Best Shakespeare Quotes: 50 Powerful Lines That Move You

Introduction

Quotes have a rare power: a single line can reframe a moment, steady a wavering heart, or spark action. The best Shakespeare quotes condense deep insight into memorable language — ideal when you need courage before a challenge, clarity in decision-making, comfort in loss, or a line to lift someone's spirits. Use these lines for daily reminders, social captions, speeches, journaling prompts, or simply to carry a bit of wisdom with you through the day.

Motivational quotes

• "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em."
• "Be not afraid of greatness."
• "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."
• "Men at some time are masters of their fates."
• "We know what we are, but know not what we may be."
• "Brevity is the soul of wit."
• "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."
• "Come what come may, Time and the hour runs through the roughest day."
• "Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once."

Inspirational quotes

• "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."
• "What's past is prologue."
• "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
• "Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast."
• "There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow."
• "The rest is silence."
• "The wheel is come full circle."
• "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all."

Life wisdom quotes

• "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
• "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
• "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
• "When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools."
• "Nothing will come of nothing."
• "Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall."
• "Now is the winter of our discontent."
• "As flies to wanton boys are we to th' gods; they kill us for their sport."

Success & ambition quotes

• "This above all: to thine own self be true."
• "Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."
• "All that glisters is not gold."
• "Fair is foul, and foul is fair."
• "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
• "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
• "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
• "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."

Love & passion quotes

• "If music be the food of love, play on."
• "The course of true love never did run smooth."
• "Though she be but little, she is fierce!"
• "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind."
• "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate."
• "Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds."
• "I will wear my heart upon my sleeve."
• "When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state."
• "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand."

Courage & resilience quotes

• "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!"
• "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!"
• "If you prick us, do we not bleed?"
• "That time of year thou mayst in me behold."
• "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster."
• "There's the rub."
• "To be, or not to be: that is the question."
• "What's done is done."

Conclusion

Shakespeare's words cut straight to the heart of human experience — brave, tender, witty, and wise. Carry a line with you, repeat one each morning, or pin a favorite to your desk: a single quote can shift perspective, steady resolve, and turn ordinary moments into opportunities for growth. Let these best Shakespeare quotes be your daily companions for thought, action, and comfort.