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The meaning and origin of the expression: To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub

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What's the origin of the phrase 'To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub'?

This line is from the celebrated 'To be, or not to be' speech in Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1602:

The meaning and origin of the phrase 'To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub'HAMLET:
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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