135 Phrases coined by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare invented more phrases and sayings than anyone else, and most of them are still used today.
He came up with most of them himself, but sometimes he borrowed good lines from others. A few of his most famous phrases were actually popularized by him, rather than invented by him.
Here's a list of well-known expressions that are associated with Shakespeare.
See also: A list of words coined by William Shakespeare
Full list of Shakespearian phrases:
A countenance more in sorrow than in anger
A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse
A ministering angel shall my sister be
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio
All that glitters is not gold / All that glisters is not gold
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players
An ill-favoured thing sir, but mine own
And shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks
But screw your courage to the sticking-place
But, for my own part, it was Greek to me
Come the three corners of the world in arms
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war
Discretion is the better part of valour
Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble
Even at the turning of the tide
Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog
Fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears
Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings
He will give the Devil his due
His beard was as white as snow
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips
I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
If music be the food of love, play on
Is this a dagger which I see before me?
Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water
Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows
More honoured in the breach than in the observance
Neither a borrower nor a lender be
Now is the winter of our discontent
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything
Screw your courage to the sticking place
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
Such stuff as dreams are made on
Tell truth and shame the Devil!
The course of true love never did run smooth
The quality of mercy is not strained
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on
This is the short and the long of it
This is very midsummer madness
This precious stone set in the silver sea, this sceptered isle
Though this be madness, yet there is method in it
To be or not to be, that is the question
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
Wear your heart on your sleeve
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet
When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions
Where the bee sucks, there suck I
While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil!