Richard III Quotes

“Dispute not with her: she is lunatic.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“So wise so young, they say, do never live long.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odd old ends stol'n out of holy writ;
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Out of my sight! Thou dost infect mine eyes.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“And therefore, — since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days, —
I am determined to prove a villain,
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“What do I fear? Myself? There’s none else by.
Richard loves Richard; that is, I and I.
Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am.
Then fly! What, from myself? Great reason why:
Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself?
Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? For any good
That I myself have done unto myself?
O, no! Alas, I rather hate myself
For hateful deeds committed by myself.
I am a villain. Yet I lie. I am not.
Fool, of thyself speak well. Fool, do not flatter:
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the highest degree;
Murder, stern murder, in the direst degree;
All several sins, all used in each degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all, “Guilty! guilty!”
I shall despair. There is no creature loves me,
And if I die no soul will pity me.
And wherefore should they, since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself?”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devis'd at first to keep the strong in awe:
Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.
March on, join bravely, let us to't pell-mell;
If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“In thy foul throat thou liest.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Sin, death, and hell have set their marks on him,
And all their ministers attend on him.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end;
Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Despair and die.

The ghosts”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree;
Murder, stern murder in the dir'st degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all, 'Guilty!, guilty!”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“But then I sigh, with a piece of Scripture
Tell them that God bids us to do evil for good;
And thus I clothe my naked villany
With odd old ends stolen out of Holy Writ;
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Shine out fair sun, till I have bought a glass,
That I may see my shadow as I pass.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“I'll not meddle with it. It makes a man a coward: a man cannot steal but it accuseth him; a man cannot swear but it checks him; a man cannot lie with his neighbor's wife but it detects him. 'Tis a blushing, shamefaced spirit that mutinies in a man's bosom. It fills a man full of obstacles. It made me once restore a purse of gold that by chance I found. It beggars any man that keeps it. It is turned out of towns and cities for a dangerous thing, and every man that means to live well endeavors to trust to himself and live without it.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Bad is the world, and all will come to naught
when such ill-dealing must be seen in thought.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“The world is grown so bad that wrens make pray where eagles dare not perch”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Tis better, sir, to be brief than tedious.”
― William Shakespeare (Richard III), Richard III

“Tush!
Fear not, my lord, we will not stand to prate;
Talkers are no good doers: be assured
We come to use our hands and not our tongues.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Short summers lightly have a forward spring.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“All springs reduce their currents to mine eyes,
That I, being governed by the watery moon,
May send forth plenteous tears to drown the world.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due of blame.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Woe to that land that’s govern’d by a child!”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“What do I fear? Myself? There’s none else by.
Richard loves Richard; that is, I and I.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Thus I clothe my naked villainy with old odd ends, stolen forth of holy writ, and seem a saint when most I play the devil.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Here is the indictment of the good Lord Hastings;
Which in a set hand fairly is engross'd
That it may be to-day read o'er in Paul's.
And mark how well the sequel hangs together:
Eleven hours I have spent to write it over,
For yesternight by Catesby was it sent me;
The precedent was full as long a-doing;
And yet within these five hours Hastings liv'd,
Untainted, unexamin'd, free, at liberty.
Here's a good world the while! Who is so gros
That cannot see this palpable device?
Yet who's so bold but says he sees it not?
Bad is the world; and all will come to nought,
When such ill dealing must be seen in thought.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III

“Plain and not honest is too harsh a style.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III