20 Powerful Hamlet Quotes Everyone Is Sharing Right Now

Hamlet's language cuts straight to the heart of ambition, doubt, courage, and conscience. These hamlet quotes—from soliloquies, counsel, and sharp observations—remain powerful prompts for action, reflection, and resilience. Use them to start your day, steady your resolve in hard moments, include in a speech or note, or pause with when you need perspective.

Motivational quotes

• "To be, or not to be: that is the question." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "The readiness is all." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Give me that man that is not passion's slave, and I will wear him in my heart's core." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "O, from this time forth my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "How all occasions do inform against me, and spur my dull revenge!" — William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Inspirational quotes

• "This above all: to thine own self be true." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties..." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "I must be cruel only to be kind." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Life wisdom quotes

• "Brevity is the soul of wit." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Words, words, words." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Success & strategy quotes

• "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Use every man after his desert, and who shall 'scape whipping?" — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Conscience does make cowards of us all." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Madness in great ones must not unwatched go." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Courage & resolve quotes

• "The rest is silence." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "To die, to sleep—To sleep—perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "I will speak daggers to her, but use none." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!" — William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Reflection & purpose quotes

• "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Get thee to a nunnery." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "Sweets to the sweet." — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
• "What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed?" — William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Conclusion

Hamlet's lines are more than period pieces; they are compact, honest mirrors that sharpen thinking and lift resolve. Keep a few hamlet quotes where you can reach them—on a phone note, a journal, or a workspace—and let Shakespeare's clarity transform small moments into decisive ones.