Celebrating Shakespeare!

Looks like the western world is gearing up to celebrate the life and works of the Bard. Four hundred years ago, on 3 May 1616, at the age of only 52, Will Shakespeare died, leaving behind one of the most treasured collections of plays and poems the world has ever known.

William Shakespeare, 400th Anniversary

To offer my own tiny tribute, some of my favorite quotes:

(from Macbeth, Act V, scene v)

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

(from Hamlet, Act V, scene ii)

Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now,
'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be
now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the
readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he
leaves, what is't to leave betimes?

And for drama at its best, Lady Macbeth going mad with guilt (from Macbeth, Act V, scene i):

Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,
then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my
lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
fear who knows it, when none can call our power to
account?--Yet who would have thought the old man
to have had so much blood in him.

The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?--
What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'
that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with
this starting.

Here's the smell of the blood still: all the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand. Oh, oh, oh!

"Ophelia: and he will never come again"
 1865, Arthur Hughes

I guess it's obvious that my taste leans toward the darker side of things. So many exciting passages to quote, I had a hard time choosing. The words are like dark chocolate on the tongue. Delicious and rich and a little bitter.

Fun stuff found on Twitter:
@Shakespeare_400
@s400events

Care to share your favorite quotes? Any other worthwhile sites dedicating time and bandwidth to our favorite Bard? Please share!