Wonderful Wordings from William Shakespeare

A well-crafted turn of phrase can be a wonderful thing. Just think about catchy sayings we utter each day. A witty song lyric, a snippy sitcom comeback, a marvelous movie quote, or a headstrong headline can set us off for weeks.

Elizabethan poet and playwright William Shakespeare was the ultimate wordsmith, and countless modern expressions have evolved from his writings. Here are several of my personal favorites.

Fellow fans of the Bard will likely have many more.

From As You Like It:

"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." (Act II, Scene VII).

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind! Thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude." (Act II, Scene VII).

"Can one desire too much of a good thing?" (Act IV, Scene I).

"We have seen better days." (Act II, Scene VII).

"For ever and a day." (Act IV, Scene I).

From Hamlet:

"Brevity is the soul of wit." (Act II, Scene II).

"In my mind's eye." (Act I, Scene II).

"The lady doth protest too much." (Act III, Scene II).

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be." (Act I, Scene III).

"The play 's the thing." (Act II, Scene II).

"Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind." (Act III, Scene I).

"To be, or not to be: that is the question." (Act III, Scene I).

"To sleep, perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub." (Act III, Scene I).

"To thine own self be true." (Act I, Scene III).

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in it." (Act II, Scene II).

"What a piece of work is man!" (Act II, Scene II).

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions." (Act IV, Scene V).

From Julius Caesar:

"A dish fit for the gods." (Act II, Scene I).

"Beware the ides of March." (Act I, Scene II).
"The dogs of war." (Act III, Scene I).

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." (Act III, Scene II).

"I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." (Act III, Scene II).

"It was Greek to me." (Act I, Scene II).

"A lean and hungry look." (Act I, Scene II).

"Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." (Act III, Scene II).

From King Lear:

"Nothing can come of nothing." (Act I, Scene I).

From Macbeth:

"A charmed life." (Act V, Scene VIII).

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." (Act IV, Scene I).

"The milk of human kindness." (Act I, Scene V).

"Out, damned spot! out, I say!" (Act V, Scene I).

"There 's daggers in men's smiles." (Act II, Scene III).

"What 's done is done." (Act III, Scene II).

From The Merchant of Venice:

"All that glisters is not gold." (Act II, Scene VII).

"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?".(Act III, scene I).

From A Midsummer Night's Dream:

"The course of true love never did run smooth." (Act I, Scene 1).

From Much Ado About Nothing:

"Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." (Act III, Scene I).

"Are you good men and true?" (Act III, Scene III).

From Othello:

"It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock." (Act III)

"'Tis neither here nor there." (Act IV, Scene III).

"Wear my heart upon my sleeve." (Act I, Scene I).

From Richard III:

"Now is the winter of our discontent." (Act I, Scene I).

"A horse! a horse! My kingdom for a horse!" (Act V, Scene IV).

From Romeo and Juliet:

"Good Night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow." (Act II, Scene II).

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." (Act II, Scene II).

From The Tempest:

"Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows." (Act II, Scene II).

From Twelfth Night:

"If music be the food of love, play one." (Act I, Scene I).

How about insults, the Elizabethan way?

Shakespeare was also one of the most skilled insulters of all time. He may have been the king of "ye olde disrespectful slam."

Try these on for size:

Thou caluminous rampallian skainsmate!

Thou spongy brazen-faced joithead!

Thou misbegotten tardy-gaited popinjay!

Thou dankish swag-bellied moldwarp!

Gee, I'd hate to get on the Bard's bad side!