What is a man
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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More information about this quote

Topic

Purpose of life Man and animals Human nature

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Occupation

Playwright Poet Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 4, sc. 4.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 4, sc. 4.

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A quote by William Shakespeare about purpose of life: “What is a man If his chief good and market of his time Be…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about Purpose of life

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

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More information about this quote
Topic
Simple living Introspection Life lessons Purpose of life

Author

Henry David Thoreau
Source
Where I Lived, And What I Lived For Walden
Genre
Autobiography and memoir
Language
English
Time
1854 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Where I Lived, And What I Lived For." Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Where I Lived, And What I Lived For." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

Another quote from European Renaissance

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

John Milton

Paradise Lost

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More information about this quote
Topic
Heaven and hell

Author

John Milton
Source
Paradise Lost
Medium
Poem
Genre
Epic poem Religious literature
Language
English
Time
1667 1660s 17th century
Era
European Renaissance
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Samuel Simmons, 1667, bk. 1, I. 263.

Current Citation

"Paradise Lost." John Milton: Major Works, edited by Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford University Press, 2008, I. 263.