William Shakespeare Quotes About War

• Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Patriotic, Order

• The peace of heaven is theirs that lift their swords, in such a just and charitable war.

  William Shakespeare

  Peace, War, Memorable

  William Shakespeare (1823). “The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare: From the Text of Johnson, Stevens, and Reed; with Glossarial Notes, His Life, and a Critique on His Genius & Writings”, p.347

• Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!

  William Shakespeare

  Dog, Military, War

  'Julius Caesar' (1599) act 3, sc. 1, l. 270

• One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.

  William Shakespeare

  Smile, War, Hamlet And Ophelia

  'Hamlet' (1601) act 1, sc. 5, l. 105

• In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility.

  William Shakespeare

  Memorial Day, Peace, War

  'Henry V' (1599) act 3, sc. 1, l. 1

• Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall with our English dead.

  William Shakespeare

  Friendship, Memorial Day, Wall

  'Henry V' (1599) act 3, sc. 1, l. 1

• This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands,--This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

  William Shakespeare

  Kings, Wall, War

  'Richard II' (1595) act 2, sc. 1, l. 40

• Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Kissing, Tyrants

  1607 Pericles. Pericles, sc.2, l.84.

• Lechery, lechery; still, wars and lechery: nothing else holds fashion.

  William Shakespeare

  Love, Fashion, War

  'Troilus And Cressida' (1602) act 5, sc. 2, l. 192

• Care for us! True, indeed! They ne'er cared for us yet: suffer us to famish, and their storehouses crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act established against the rich, and provide more piercing statutes daily to chain up and restrain the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and there's all the love they bear us.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Support, Suffering

  William Shakespeare (2012). “Coriolanus”, p.3, Courier Corporation

• We are ready to try our fortunes to the last man.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Men, Trying

• Then imitate the action of the tiger; stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.

  William Shakespeare

  Memorial Day, War, Adversity

  'Henry V' (1599) act 3, sc. 1, l. 1

• Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger.

  William Shakespeare

  Friendship, Memorial Day, Peace

  'Henry V' (1599) act 3, sc. 1, l. 1

• I'll fight, till from my bones my flesh be hacked.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Fighting, Flesh

  William Shakespeare (1863). “Shakespeare's plays, abridged and revised for the use of girls by R. Baughan. Book 1, containing the tragedies and historical plays”, p.12

• If there were a sympathy in choice, War, death, or sickness, did lay siege to it, Making it momentary as a sound, Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth, And ere a man hath power to say 'Behold!' The jaws of darkness do devour it up; So quick bright things come to confusion.

  William Shakespeare

  Dream, War, Night

  'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1595-6) act 1, sc. 1, l. 141

• Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!
  Farewell the plumed troops, and the big wars
  That make ambition virtue.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Farewell, Ambition

  'Othello' (1602-4) act 3, sc. 3, l. 346

• Ay me! for aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth. But, either it was different in blood,- Or else it stood upon the choice of friends,- Or, if there were a sympathy in choice, War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it.

  William Shakespeare

  Running, War, Blood

  William Shakespeare (1867). “The Works of William Shakespeare”, p.162

• O how wretched is that poor man that hangs on princes favors! There is betwixt that smile we would aspire to, that sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, more pangs and fears than wars or women have, and when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, never to hope again.

  William Shakespeare

  Sweet, War, Fall

  'Henry VIII' (1613) act 3, sc. 2, l. 352

• Cry "havoc!" and let loose the dogs of war, That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial.

  William Shakespeare

  Dog, War, Men

  'Julius Caesar' (1599) act 3, sc. 1, l. 270

• Go, bid the soldiers shoot.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Soldier

  'Hamlet' (1601) act 5, sc. 2, l. [417]

• I will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Fifty, Way

  1599-1600 Touchstone. AsYou Like It, act 5, sc.1, l.51-6.

• A victory is twice itself when the achiever brings home full numbers.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Home, Numbers

  'Much Ado About Nothing' (1598-9) act 1, sc. 1, l. [8]

• Upon his royal face there is no note how dread an army hath enrounded him.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Army, Faces

  William Shakespeare (1998). “Henry V”, p.205, Oxford University Press, USA

• Here I and sorrows sit; Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.

  William Shakespeare

  Kings, War, Sorrow

  William Shakespeare (1793). “The Plays of William Shakspeare: In Fifteen Volumes. With the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators. To which are Added Notes”, p.73

• To whom God will, there be the victory.

  William Shakespeare

  War, Victory, Gods Will

  William Shakespeare (1823). “The Plays of William Shakspeare”, p.239

You May Also Like:

Miguel de Cervantes

Anne Hathaway

Charles Dickens

William Wordsworth

Christopher Marlowe

Moliere

Elizabeth I