Macbeth Key Quotes

• It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury; signifying nothing.

  William Shakespeare

  Life, Death, Play

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 5, l. 16

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• If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.

  William Shakespeare

  Kings, Lady Macbeth, Crowns

  The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Macbeth Act I, Scene 3, l. 143

  12 Copy quote

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• Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on the other side

  William Shakespeare

  Fall, Ambition, Lady Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 7, l. 16

  19 Copy quote

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• So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

  William Shakespeare

  Important Macbeth, Foul, Darkness In Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 3, l. 38

  10 Copy quote

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• We fail!
  But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
  And we'll not fail.

  William Shakespeare

  Life, Encouraging, Courage

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 7, l. 54

  57 Copy quote

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• Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow.

  William Shakespeare

  Futility Of Life, Play, Life And Death

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 5, l. 16

  95 Copy quote

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• Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.

  William Shakespeare

  Stars, Halloween, Dark

  William Shakespeare, Isaac Reed, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens (1817). “The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: With the Corrections and Illustrations of Dr. Johnson, G. Steevens, and Others”, p.279

  43 Copy quote

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• False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

  William Shakespeare

  Memorable, Heart, Lady Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 7, l. 82

  88 Copy quote

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• Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.

  William Shakespeare

  Flower, Advice, Lady Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 5, l. [63]

  66 Copy quote

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• Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Raze out the written troubles of the brain

  William Shakespeare

  Memories, Brain, Mind

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 3, l. 37

  9 Copy quote

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• My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white.

  William Shakespeare

  Heart, Hands, Color

  William Shakespeare (2005). “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, p.30, 1st World Publishing

  30 Copy quote

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• Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man.

  William Shakespeare

  Men, Laughing, Apparitions

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 4, sc. 1, l. 79

  9 Copy quote

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• Out, damned spot! Out, I say!

  William Shakespeare

  Memorable, Hands, Play

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 1, l. [38]

  32 Copy quote

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• I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more, is none

  William Shakespeare

  Courage, Peace, Men

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 7, l. 46

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• Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

  William Shakespeare

  Time, Futility Of Life, Lady Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 5, l. 16

  32 Copy quote

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• I am in blood Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er.

  William Shakespeare

  Blood, Lady Macbeth, Guilt

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 3, sc. 4, l. 136

  25 Copy quote

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• The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand.

  William Shakespeare

  Heart, Hands, Lady Macbeth

  William Shakespeare (2012). “Macbeth Thrift Study Edition”, p.56, Courier Corporation

  7 Copy quote

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• It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood.

  William Shakespeare

  Blood, Important Macbeth, Nature Of Evil

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 3, sc. 4, l. 122

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• 

  Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!

  William Shakespeare

  Halloween, Memorable, Play

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 4, sc. 1, l. 4

  103 Copy quote

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• Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness.

  William Shakespeare

  Kindness, Play, Lady Macbeth

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 5, l. [16]

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• To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 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.

  William Shakespeare

  Inspirational, Life, Death

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 5, sc. 5, l. 16

  99 Copy quote

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• Tis safter to be that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.

  William Shakespeare

  Joy, Lady Macbeth, Important Macbeth

  William Shakespeare (2001). “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, p.150, Classic Books Company

  8 Copy quote

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• What, can the devil speak true?

  William Shakespeare

  Truth, Devil, Speak

  'Macbeth' (1606) act 1, sc. 3, l. 107

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• Fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through fog and filthy air.

  William Shakespeare

  Fog, Air, Hovering

  William Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Nicholas Rowe (1723). “The works of Shakespear: In six volumes”, p.517

  114 Copy quote

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• Where shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly 's done, when the battle 's lost and won

  William Shakespeare

  Life, Rain, Play

  William Shakespeare (2000). “The Tragedies of Shakespeare: (A Modern Library E-Book)”, p.1043, Modern Library

  8 Copy quote

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