Playwright

Explore 650 quotes by Playwrights

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.

William Shakespeare

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Topic

Wasting time Passage of time Time

Speaker

King Richard II

Author

William Shakespeare

Genre

History (play)

Language

English

Time

1595 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Richard II. 9 Dec. 1595, The house of Edward Hoby, Westminster, London, England, UK, act 5, sc. 5.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Richard the Second." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 5, sc. 5.

A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it: it would be hell on earth.

George Bernard Shaw

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Topic

Happiness

Speaker

John Tanner

Author

George Bernard Shaw

Source

Man and Superman

Medium

Play

Genre

Drama (play)

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1903 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. "Man and Superman." Man and Superman, John Bull's Other Island, and Major Barbara. Oxford University Press, 2021, act 1. Originally published by Archibald and Constable Co., Ltd., 1903.

I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at.

William Shakespeare

Othello

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Topic

Vulnerability

Speaker

Iago

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Othello

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1604 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Othello. King's Men, 1 Nov. 1604, Palace of Whitehall, Westminster, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Othello." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 1.

Music, the greatest good that mortals know,
And all of heaven we have below.

Joseph Addison

Read A Song for St. Cecilia's Day at allpoetry.com

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Topic

Music

Author

Joseph Addison

Source

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1694 1690s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Addison, Joseph. "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day, at Oxford." 1694.

Was this the face that launched a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss!

Christopher Marlowe

Doctor Faustus

More information about this quote

Topic

Trojan War Beautiful women

Speaker

Faustus

Author

Christopher Marlowe

Source

Doctor Faustus

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1593 1590s 16th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. Admiral's Men, 1594, The Rose Theater, London, England, UK, act 5, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Marlowe, Christopher. "Doctor Faustus (1604 Text)." Christopher Marlowe: The Complete Plays. Penguin Classics, 2004, act 5, sc. 1.

Do not cast away an honest man for a villain’s accusation!

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 2

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Read Henry VI, Part 2 (this was originally titled The Contention) at The Folger Shakespeare Library

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Topic

False accusations Benefit of the doubt Trustworthiness

Speaker

Horner

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Henry VI, Part 2

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play)

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1594 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Henry the Sixth, Part 2. London: Thomas Millington, 1594, act 1, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Second Part of Henry the Sixth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 3.

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.

George Bernard Shaw

Read Mrs. Warren's Profession at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Locus of control Turning dreams into reality

Speaker

Vivie

Author

George Bernard Shaw

Source

The Philanderer Plays Unpleasant

Medium

Play

Genre

Drama (play) Satire

Language

English

Time

1898 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. "The Philanderer." Plays Unpleasant. London: Grant Richards, 1898, act 2.

Current Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. "Mrs. Warren's Profession." Plays Unpleasant. Penguin Classics, 2001, act 2.

Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it.

Max Frisch

Homo Faber

More information about this quote

Topic

Downsides of technology Technology

Author

Max Frisch

Source

Homo Faber

Medium

Novel

Language

German

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Frisch, Max. Homo faber. Ein Bericht. [Homo faber. A Report.] Abelard-Schuman, 1957.

Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 1

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Topic

Danger Safety

Speaker

Hotspur

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Henry IV, Part 1

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play)

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1597 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Henry IV, Part 1. The Lord Chamberlain's Men, c. 1597, The Theatre, London, England, UK, act 2, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The First Part of Henry the Fourth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 3.

Our disputants put me in mind of the cuttle-fish, that when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens all the water about him till he becomes invisible.

Joseph Addison

The Spectator

More information about this quote

Topic

Making arguments

Author

Joseph Addison

Source

The Spectator

Language

English

Time

1712 1710s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Addison, Joseph. The Spectator. London, 5 Sept. 1712, no. 476.

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

More information about this quote

Topic

Inevitability of death Death

Author

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Source

Dirge Without Music

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1928 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. "Dirge Without Music." The Buck in the Snow, and Other Poems. Harper & Brothers, 1928, st. 1.

What mighty ills have not been done by woman!
Who was 't betrayed the Capitol? -A woman!
Who lost Mark Antony the world? -A woman!
Who was the cause of a long ten years' war,
And laid at last old Troy in ashes? -Woman!
Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman!

Thomas Otway

The Orphan

More information about this quote

Topic

Misogyny Women

Speaker

Castalio

Author

Thomas Otway

Source

The Orphan

Genre

Tragedy (play) Tragedy

Language

English

Time

1680 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Otway, Thomas. The Orphan. Performed by Elizabeth Barry and Thomas Betterton and Thomas Gillow and John Wiltshire and Henry Norris and William Smith and Thomas Percival and Margaret Osborne and Joseph Williams. 1680, Dorset Garden Theatre, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 1.

O, what may man within him hide,
Though angel on the outward side!

William Shakespeare

Measure for Measure

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Topic

Looks are deceiving Wolf in sheep's clothing Appearance vs. reality

Speaker

Duke Vincentio

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Measure for Measure

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Measure for Measure." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 3, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Measure for Measure." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 2.

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay;
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made:
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.

Oliver Goldsmith

Read The Deserted Village at Poetry Foundation

More information about this quote

Topic

Moral decline Morality Economic inequality Working class

Author

Oliver Goldsmith

Source

The Deserted Village

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1770 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Goldsmith, Oliver. The Deserted Village. London: W. Griffin, 1770, l. 51.

True Happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise: it arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self; and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions.

Joseph Addison

The Spectator

More information about this quote

Topic

Happiness Contentment

Author

Joseph Addison

Source

The Spectator

Language

English

Time

1711 1710s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Addison, Joseph. The Spectator. London, 17 March 1711, no. 15.

I know you Lawyers can, with ease,
Twist words and meanings as you please;
That language, by your skill made pliant,
Will bend to favour every client.

John Gay

More information about this quote

Topic

Lawyers Rhetoric Language

Author

John Gay

Source

The Dog and the Fox Fables (John Gay)

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1732 1730s 18th century

Era

Used date of death but this work was originally published in 1738. -AAM

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gay, John. "The Dog and the Fox." Fables. London: John Knapton, Paul Knapton, and T. Cox, 1738, pt. 2, I. 1.

The law is not a "light" for you or any man to see by; the law is not an instrument of any kind. The law is a causeway upon which, so long as he keeps to it, a citizen may walk safely.

Robert Bolt

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of law Law

Speaker

Sir Thomas More

Author

Robert Bolt

Source

A Man for All Seasons (play)

Medium

Play

Statement Type

Definition Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1960 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bolt, Robert. A Man for All Seasons. 1 July 1960, Globe Theatre, London, England, UK, act 2.

I do not know why the necessity of God
Should feed on grief; but it seems so.

Christopher Fry

More information about this quote

Topic

Need of God Grief

Speaker

Moses

Author

Christopher Fry

Source

The Firstborn

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1946 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fry, Christopher. The Firstborn. Cambridge University Press, 1946, act 3, sc. 2.

God is on everyone's side…and, in the last analysis, he is on the side of those with plenty of money and large armies.

Jean Anouilh

More information about this quote

Topic

God taking sides God Justice

Speaker

Charles, the dauphin

Author

Jean Anouilh

Source

L'Alouette

Medium

Play

Language

French

Time

1952 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Anouilh, Jean. L'Aloutte [The Lark]. Paris: La Table Ronde, 1953.

Current Citation

Anouilh, Jean. "The Lark." Anouilh Plays: One: Antigone, Léocadia, The Waltz of the Toreadors, The Lark, and Poor Bitos. Methuen Drama, 1987.

In the arts of life man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery all the slaughter of plague, pestilence and famine.

George Bernard Shaw

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Topic

Man's inhumanity to man War

Speaker

The devil

Author

George Bernard Shaw

Source

Man and Superman

Medium

Play

Genre

Drama (play)

Language

English

Time

1903 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. "Man and Superman." Man and Superman, John Bull's Other Island, and Major Barbara. Oxford University Press, 2021, act 3. Originally published by Archibald and Constable & Co., Ltd, 1903.