Shakespeare Quotes

“Shakespeare is a writer of opposites. He will always give you a contrary.”

“Rhythm is not a metronome. It's the heartbeat of the character.”

“You can’t do Shakespeare unless you love the verse. It’s the music of the play.”

“When in doubt, speak the verse as if it’s prose and the prose as if it’s verse.”

“There's always a secret in a Shakespeare play.”

“The thing about Shakespeare is, he's so eloquent... He speaks the unspoken.”

“Shakespeare is the cornerstone of our language, and it's also our greatest export.”

“Shakespeare is the best writer, a great storyteller.”

“Francis Bacon, of St. Albans, was the greatest and most highly accomplished man who ever lived.”

“The best of Shakespeare's plays are the most inclusive.”

“Shakespeare’s work is a machine for generating stories.”

“It’s very easy to put Shakespeare on a pedestal... But in fact he was a jobbing playwright who had to get bums on seats. We’re in the same business.”

“If you speak verse, you have to find the human truth in it, and the human truth is not always pretty.”

“Shakespeare is the Canon. He sets the standard and the limits of literature.”

“All the world's a stage, and the stage is a world of pasteboard.”

“I always thought that as a Scottish actor, I'd have to do some Shakespeare.”

“The great thing about Shakespeare is that he keeps us honest.”

“Shakespeare is the best. It's the best language, the best stories.”

“I have a passion for Shakespeare. I've always had it.”

“Shakespeare is my first love. That's where my heart is.”