Your favourite Shakespeare lines / BBC Shakespeare Unlocked season

[Momo]

Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe:
The enemy increaseth every day;
We, at the height, are ready to decline.
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

Decently expressed, I must say!

Please share your favourite piece/pieces by The Bard.

[kingusama92]

my favourite line... and the most famous I would think...

"To be, or not to be: that is the question."

[12thMan]

Nawa aiya haun soniye - is this shakes pear?

[kingusama92]

this one is a good one as well...

"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." (From Twelfth night, I might be wrong though)

[12thMan]

brew brew kutch to brew
das minute main chai latte brew
oye coffee he la day soniyaa
- original Macbeth

[kingusama92]

Originally Posted by 12thMan brew brew kutch to brew das minute main chai latte brew oye coffee he la day soniyaa - original Macbeth

Man I wish it was written like that... It would be the best play ever

[Poison]

After 3 months of solid Shakespeare, I can confidently say that the man had a mental issue, and needed serious advice. Took about 20 lines to say what could have been said in 1.

[kingusama92]

Originally Posted by Poison After 3 months of solid Shakespeare, I can confidently say that the man had a mental issue, and needed serious advice. Took about 20 lines to say what could have been said in 1.

I suppose he was the Bollywood version of plays back then... making everything long for no reason

[On_the_up]

Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.

isn't a bad one.

[shabbu1]

The robb'd that smiles, steals something from the thief.

From Othello.

[MIG]

Bootay - tu ween? ( Et tu, Brute?)

[Awesome Anjum]

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.

From baarwi raat

[hussein]

losers, muppets and fools, give me your ears now!

[On_the_up]

Originally Posted by hussein losers, muppets and fools, give me your ears now!

Yes, yes we are all listening, now are you going to tell us the quote?

[waqar_ahmad]

Originally Posted by kingusama92 my favourite line... and the most famous I would think... "To be, or not to be: that is the question."

That is my favorite too coz its the only one I know. Shakespeare is overrated

[Easa]

"Love is not lover which alters when it alteration finds."

Poets. Inspiring.

[Kean0]

Originally Posted by waqar_ahmad That is my favorite too coz its the only one I know. Shakespeare is overrated

One thing is to call him over rated and another is not to undestand what he means. His work is poetic.

[Easa]

Originally Posted by Kean0 One thing is to call him over rated and another is not to undestand what he means. His work is poetic.

Interesting.

You mean to say his poetry is poetic?

[waqar_ahmad]

Originally Posted by Kean0 One thing is to call him over rated and another is not to undestand what he means. His work is poetic.

You have a point there.

[12thMan]

Pehli Churail: oye speakni vey
later translated to
First Witch: Speak
another Makhbeth classic

[OZGOD]

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
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. Out, out, brief candle!
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 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)

[Mohsin]

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

Macbeth

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Mohsin Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Macbeth

are you sure these are not from Venipur da Tajir. I remember when the main guy walks into the chotti galli there was a vendor saying "chaqoo churi taiz karaa loo"..

[Inswinger]

"Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them."

[Mohsin]

Originally Posted by 12thMan are you sure these are not from Venipur da Tajir. I remember when the main guy walks into the chotti galli there was a vendor saying "chaqoo churi taiz karaa loo"..

No i'm pretty sure its from Singhspear sahib

[James]

Gonna attempt to revive this thread. What a brilliant writer, the best ever.

Some great ones above particularly from OzGod. Let me start us off again.


'This blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all, here,
But here upon this bank and shoal of time,
We'd jump the life to come.'

- Macbeth 1. 7. 4-7

[KingKhanWC]

^ Sounds cool but what does it mean Whippy?

[LethalSami]

E Tu Brutus??????

[James]

Originally Posted by KingKhanWC ^ Sounds cool but what does it mean Whippy?

That life is a period of probation in which we must take a leap of faith to discover our path.

[KingKhanWC]

Originally Posted by James That life is a period of probation in which we must take a leap of faith to discover our path.

Thanks, interesting. Pretty much true imo.

[Lachrymose]

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

[James]

'He that has and a little tiny wit
With heigh-ho, the wind and the rain
Must make content with his fortunes fit
Though the rain it raineth every day.'

- The Fool, King Lear

[James]

No problem KKWC. I'm a Shakespeare nut, interrogate me further

Originally Posted by Lachrymose "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Love it!

[DC]

I have of late--but wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth,
forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not
me: no, nor woman neither.

Hamlet Act 2. Scene II

[Lachrymose]

"Let every eye negotiate for itself and trust no agent; for beauty is a witch against whose charms faith melteth in blood."

[sa88]

There are too many good quotes in Shakespeare to just pick one. The man was a genius. He had the greatest understanding of the human condition out of anyone who took time to write about it. Here are a few of my favourites:


Romeo and Juliet

“When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.”


The Merchant of Venice:

The quality of mercy is not strained
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.

Hamlet

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet,
to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—
nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.

[James]

'unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor bare,
forked animal'

- King Lear

[ElRaja]

The bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the pr;ck of noon.

romeo and juliet

i think that had a certain double meaning to it. or maybe it was just my gutteral mentality....

[Zaz]

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

[Zaz]

It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow

[saadibaba]

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!
King Richard

[Easa]

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

Brilliant.

[DC]

To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies—and what’s his reason? 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, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you pr;ck 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? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.

The merchant of Venice Act 3. Scene I

[Indiafan]

Fess up, all of you, (except for Whippy/James) are googling quotes now. BTW, I love him to bits, his language is out of the world, never mind the content

[ElRaja]

Originally Posted by DC To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies—and what’s his reason? 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, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you pr;ck 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? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. The merchant of Venice Act 3. Scene I

i remember that from the film version, al pacino imo was a perfect shylock

[chacha kashmiri]

''Lord! I could not endure a husband with a beard on his face: I hath rather lie in the woollen."


"He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man."

[Lachrymose]

"If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die."

Quite deep, eh?

[Robert]

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!

- Henry V


This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

- Richard II

[James]

Tis the time's plague when madmen lead the blind.

- The Earl of Gloucester, King Lear

[DC]

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
this day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now abed
shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
that fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Henry V. Scene 4 Act III

[DC]

And Duncan’s horses—a thing most strange and certain—
Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race,
turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,
contending 'gainst obedience, as they would
make war with mankind.

'Tis said they eat each other.

Macbeth. Scene 2 Act IV

[James]

For all you Billy fans out there, the BBC are currently running a Shakespeare Unlocked season.

There are a few TV and radio shows currently on iPlayer, and a lot more to come.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/shakespeare/

[chacha kashmiri]

Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream:
The genius and the mortal instruments
Are then in council; and the state of man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection

[insaan]

Quoth she,
'Before you tumbled me,
You promised me to wed.'

He answers:
'So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed.'

[insaan]

Purpose is but the slave to memory,
Of violent birth, but poor validity;
Which now, like fruit unripe, sticks on the tree;
But fall, unshaken, when they mellow be.
Most necessary 'tis that we forget
To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt:
What to ourselves in passion we propose,
The passion ending, doth the purpose lose.

[James]

We still have judgement here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return,
To plague the inventor; this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips.

- Macbeth

[Saqs]

Just created a thread on this as I think it's such an important theme to explore.

Merchant of Venice. Criminally underrated. Portia to Shylock.

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. . . .
. . .
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself,
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
*** *** ***(IV.i.179–197)

[Saqs]

I miss Momo

[Tasavur]

"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;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest -
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men -
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me."

Julius Caesar Act 3 Scene 2

One of the best examples of rhetorical writing in the history of the English language!

[James]

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
- Brutus

'Now or Never!'

What a writer.

[Bilbo]

Is momo still around?