Quotes About Shakespeare

Somewhere about middle age, it occurs to most people that a century is only their lifetime twice. On that thought, all of history rushes together, and now they live inside the story of time, instead of looking at it from outside as observers. Only ten or twelve of their lifetimes ago, Shakespeare was alive. The French Revolution was just the other day.

Our speculations about Shakespeare are almost as multifarious and foolish as our speculations about the maker of the universe, and, like those, are frequently concerned to establish that his works were not made by him but by another person of the same name.

One demands a little originality in these days, even from murderers, said Lady Swaffham. Like dramatists, you know--so much easier in Shakespeare's time, wasn't it? Always the same girl dressed up as a man, and even that borrowed from Boccaccio or Dante or somebody. I'm sure if I'd been a Shakespeare hero, the very minute I saw a slim-legged young page-boy I'd have said: 'Ods bodikins! There's that girl again!

One demands a little originality in these days, even from murderers," said Lady Swaffham. "Like dramatists, you know—so much easier in Shakespeare's time, wasn't it? Always the same girl dressed up as a man, and even that borrowed from Boccaccio or Dante or somebody. I'm sure if I'd been a Shakespeare hero, the very minute I saw a slim-legged young page-boy I'd have said: 'Ods-bodikins! There's that girl again!

I'm afraid I always find Shakespeare terribly dreary. All those long scenes where everybody is drunk and it's supposed to be funny.

One needs some really good food and drink after all the magnificent blood and gloom of Macbeth. Shakespeare always makes me ravenous

Hasta el propio Romeo, como sabes, tuvo su Rosalinda antes de que le sorbiera el seso Julieta.

On ülisuur viga lasta inimesel näha või kuulda valel ajal. Enamiku inimeste jaoks kaotab Shakespeare igasuguse võlu seetõttu, et nad koolis on kohustatud teda õppima; Shakespeare'i tuleb laval näha, mängituna nii, nagu autor seda kirjutades ette kujutas. Teatris oskate seda üsnagi noorelt hinnata, ammu enne, kui mõistate sõnade ja värsside ilu.

Shakespeare set a lot of his dramas in a historical perspective or war perspective, or he would study what was going on at that time.

Peter Hall was just organizing the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was going to be an ensemble, it was going to be in repertory, it was going to have a home in London as well as in the Midlands, and all of those things were happening at that time.

Shakespeare had found language for the agony of living with one's own mistakes. There were words for finding yourself isolated with your failures. Phrases for discovering that you were wrong, all, all wrong, wrong, wrong.

A marvellous power of expression over language often distinguishes genius; but Shakespeare in his phrases seems independent of the bonds of language as of the bonds of metre.

We're very lucky, men, that there are these fabulous parts. Women - once you've done all the parts in Shakespeare, they start running out. So you can pick and choose and find something to energise you.

I'd like to do a piece of Shakespeare. Any upcoming Shakespeare film. Just a bit to say I did a classic.

Shakespeare gives you these clues - these little pieces of gold dust, I call them. They tell you so much about the story, the character, the drive, the intentions. It's like a gift.

Each of my Shakespeare pieces is different to the other, but each espouses a set of philosophies common to all my theatre work.

I think academics are infuriating. For every expert on Shakespeare there is another one to cancel his theory out. It drives you up the wall. I think the greatest form of finding out the truth is through fantasy.

I never wanted to become an actress because I'd read great literature or seen great Shakespeare. It was more just wanting to understand what the people were really like, why they said all the strange things they did.

The conventional wisdom with David Mamet is, you do not change a word. And that agrees with me. If you want to change any of David's words, it's like wanting to change the iambic pentameter in Shakespeare - you should do something else.

Most people know me from 'The Office,' where I played a guy who grunted out three or four words an episode and was kind of a knucklehead, and so I think it's surprising for people to see me do something like this. But Shakespeare is what I grew up wanting to do.

I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play I feel a little sorrowful that I'll never know the man, or any man of such warm intelligence.

If you want to make idols accessible - which I think Shakespeare should be - then you have to bring a human touch, make it self-effacing and warm.

I had been in 760 performances of 10 different Shakespeare plays by the time I was 17.

When I was younger, I acted in some Shakespeare stuff; I did one Shakespeare camp.