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William Shakespeare

52 free books by William Shakespeare. 50 you can read right here.

Born 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon · Died 1616 in Stratford-upon-Avon

writer, poet, playwright · Kingdom of England · associated with English Renaissance

Notable works: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Facts from Wikidata (Q692), retrieved 2026-09-26.

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Quotes from William Shakespeare’s books

Verified word for word in the text: each quote is copied exactly from the book’s text in this site’s reader (the Project Gutenberg e-text named under each book) and links to its passage; when this page was built, every quote was checked word for word against that text. How RedLectern is built.

Hamlet

From Project Gutenberg e-text #1524 (public domain in the USA).

To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?

— Hamlet · Act III, Scene I — A room in the Castle

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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

— Hamlet · Act I, Scene V — A more remote part of the Castle

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All 23 quotes from Hamlet →

The Comedy of Errors

From Project Gutenberg e-text #1504 (public domain in the USA).

BALTHASAR Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.

— Balthasar · Act III, Scene I — The same

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Nay, then, thus: We came into the world like brother and brother, And now let’s go hand in hand, not one before another.

— Dromio Of Ephesus · Act V, Scene I — The same

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All 12 quotes from The Comedy of Errors →

A Midsummer Night's Dream

From Project Gutenberg e-text #1514 (public domain in the USA).

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

— Puck · Act III, Scene II — Another part of the wood

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For aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth.

— Lysander · Act I, Scene I — Athens. A room in the Palace of Theseus

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All 15 quotes from A Midsummer Night's Dream →

The Tragedy of Macbeth

From Project Gutenberg e-text #1533 (public domain in the USA).

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death.

— Macbeth · Act V, Scene V — Dunsinane. Within the castle

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Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

— Macbeth · Act V, Scene V — Dunsinane. Within the castle

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All 17 quotes from The Tragedy of Macbeth →

King Lear

From Project Gutenberg e-text #1532 (public domain in the USA).

Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.

— Lear · Act I, Scene I — A Room of State in King Lear’s Palace

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As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, They kill us for their sport.

— Gloucester · Act IV, Scene I — The heath

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All 20 quotes from King Lear →

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