William Shakespeare

"When daisies pied and violets blue, And lady-smocks all silver-white, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue Do paint the meadows with delight, The cuckoo then, on every tree, Mocks married men; for thus sings he, Cuckoo! Cuckoo, cuckoo!—O word of fear, Unpleasing to a married ear!"

"And the poor beetle, that we tread upon, In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great As when a giant dies."

"A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t' attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat three: if thou wert the fox, the lion would suspect thee, when peradventure thou wert accused by the ass: if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee, and still thou livedst but as a breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner: wert thou the unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury: wert thou a bear, thou wouldst be killed by the horse: wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by the leopard: wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life: all thy safety were remotion and thy defence absence. What beast couldst thou be, that were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art thou already, that seest not thy loss in transformation."

"Let us sit upon the ground And tell sad stories of the death of kings: How some have been depos'd, some slain in war, Some haunted by the ghosts they have depos'd, Some poison'd by their wives, some sleeping kill'd; All murder'd."

"Every subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's soul is his own."

"Ay, every inch a king."

"The king's name is a tower of strength, Which they upon the adverse party want."

"The king-becoming graces, As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, I have no relish of them."

"A substitute shines brightly as a king Until a king be by, and then his state Empties itself, as doth an inland brook Into the main waters."

"Yet looks he like a king; behold, his eye, As bright as is the eagle's, lightens forth Controlling majesty."

"There's such divinity doth hedge a king, That treason can but peep to what it would."

"Η γλώσσα κόκαλα δεν έχει, αλλά κόκαλα τσακίζει."

"Købe katten i sækken."

"Here's metal more attractive."

"That was laid on with a trowel."

"Honey of Hybla."

"The short and the long of it."

"Fast bind, fast find; A proverb never stale in thrifty mind."

"Westward-ho!"

"Though last, not least in love."

"Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none."

"'Tis in grain, sir, 'twill endure wind and weather."

"Harp not on that string."

"Every why hath a wherefore."

"'Tis neither here nor there."

"God save the mark!"

"I have you on the hip."

"A coward dies a thousand times before his death. The valiant never taste of death but once."

"I can tell thee where that saying was born."

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones."

"If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces."

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."

"O God! methinks, it were a happy life, To be no better than a homely swain; To sit upon a hill, as I do now, To carve out dials quaintly, point by point, Thereby to see the minutes how they run: How many make the hour full complete, How many hours bring about the day, How many days will finish up the year, How many years a mortal man may live."

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet."

"Cry 'Havoc!,' and let slip the dogs of war."

"'The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.'"

"What light through yonder window breaks?"

"Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar-school; and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used; and, contrary to the king, his crown, and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill."

"It is a wise father that knows his own child."

"I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

"Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once."

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine ownself be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice."

"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!"

"Is she not passing fair?"

"I was in love with my bed."

"The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on."

"All that glisters is not gold."

"Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York."

"Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night!"