Shakespeare Fortune Quotes & Sayings

Sometimes Joyce is hilarious. I read Finnegans Wake after graduate school and I had the great good fortune of reading it without any help. I don't know if I read it right, but it was hilarious! I laughed constantly! I didn't know what was going on for whole blocks but it didn't matter because I wasn't going to be graded on it. I think the reason why everyone still has so much fun with Shakespeare is because he didn't have any literary critic. He was just doing it; and there were no reviews except for people throwing stuff on stage. He could just do it. — Toni Morrison

HAMLET To be or not to be - that is the question: 64 Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 65 The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 66 Or to take arms against a sea of troubles 67 And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep - 68 No more - and by a sleep to say we end 69 The heartache and the thousand natural shocks 70 That flesh is heir to - 'tis a consummation 71 Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep - 72 To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub, 73 For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, 74 When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, — William Shakespeare

Oh, I am fortune's fool! — William Shakespeare

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents' strife ...
O, I am fortune's fool! ...
Then I defy you, stars. — William Shakespeare

But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy,
Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great:
Of Nature's gifts thou mayst with lilies boast,
And with the half-blown rose; but Fortune, O! — William Shakespeare

So may I, blind fortune leading me,
Miss that which one unworthier may attain,
And die with grieving. — William Shakespeare

Sonnet 29
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings. — William Shakespeare

Blest are those
Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled,
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please. — William Shakespeare

Happy is your grace,
That can translate the stubbornness of fortune
Into so quiet and so sweet a style — William Shakespeare

Fortune is painted blind, with a muffler afore her eyes, to signify to you that Fortune is blind. — William Shakespeare

Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah, do not, when my heart hath 'scoped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquer'd woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite
But in the onset come; so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune's might,
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee will not seem so. — William Shakespeare

The thing of courage
As rous'd with rage doth sympathise,
And, with an accent tun'd in self-same key,
Retorts to chiding fortune. — William Shakespeare

It is thyself, mine own self's better part; Mine eye's clear eye, my dear heart's dearer heart; My food, my fortune, and my sweet hope's aim, My sole earth's heaven, and my heaven's claim. — William Shakespeare

A fool, a fool! I met a fool i' th' forest,
A motley fool! a miserable world!
As I do live by food, I met a fool
Who laid him down and basked him in the sun
And railed on Lady Fortune in good terms,
In good set terms, and yet a motley fool. — William Shakespeare

GLOUCESTER
Now, good sir, what are you?
EDGAR
A most poor man made tame to fortune's blows,
Who by the art of known and feeling sorrows
Am pregnant to good pity. — William Shakespeare

In Antiochus and his daughter you have heard of monstrous lust the due and just reward; In Pericles, his queen, and daughter, seen, Although assailed with fortune fierce and keen, Virtue preserved from fell destruction's blast, Led on by heaven, and crowned with joy at last. — William Shakespeare

O fortune, fortune! all men call thee fickle. — William Shakespeare

The merciless Macdonald
(Worthy to be a rebel, - for, to that,
The multiplying villainies of nature
Do swarm upon him) from the Western Isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
And Fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Showed like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion,
Carv'd out his passage. — William Shakespeare

This is the excellent foppery of the world, that,
when we are sick in fortune,
often the surfeit
of our own behavior,
we make guilty of our
disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars: as
if we were villains by necessity; fools by
heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and
treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards,
liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of
planetary influence; and all that we are evil in,
by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion
of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish
disposition to the charge of a star. — William Shakespeare

Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered. — William Shakespeare

Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice
And could of men distinguish, her election
Hath seal'd thee for herself; for thou hast been
As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing,
A man that Fortune's buffets and rewards
Hast ta'en with equal thanks: and blest are those
Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled,
That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please. Give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,
As I do thee. — William Shakespeare

A good man's fortune may grow out at heels. — William Shakespeare

Myself
a prince by fortune of my birth,
Near to the king in blood, and near in love
Till you did make him misinterpret me
Have stooped my neck under your injuries
And sighed my English breath in foreign clouds,
Eating the bitter bread of banishment,
Whilst you have fed upon my signories,
Disparked my parks and felled my forest woods,
From my own windows torn my household coat,
Rased out my imprese, leaving me no sign,
Save men's opinions and my living blood,
To show the world I am a gentleman. — William Shakespeare

Thou art a slave, whom fortune's tender arm
With favour never clasp'd; but bred a dog. — William Shakespeare

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? — William Shakespeare

Good fortune then!
To make me blest or cursed'st among men. — William Shakespeare

Greatness, once fallen out with fortune, must fall out with men too. — William Shakespeare

Fortune, that arrant whore,
Ne'er turns the key to th'poor. — William Shakespeare

There's a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads onto fortune, omitted, all their voyages end in shallows and miseries. Upon such tide are we now ... — William Shakespeare

So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune,
That I would set my life on any chance,
To mend, or be rid on't. — William Shakespeare

Live loath'd and long,
Most smiling, smooth, detested parasites,
Courteous destroyers, affable wolves, meek bears,
You fools of fortune, trencher friends, time flies
Cap and knee slaves, vapors, and minute jacks. — William Shakespeare

If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite,
But in the onset come: so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune's might;
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compar'd with loss of thee will not seem so. — William Shakespeare

Many dream not to find, neither deserve, and yet are steeped in favors. — William Shakespeare

An admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition on the charge of a star! — William Shakespeare

Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine,
Nor age so eat up my invention,
Nor fortune made such havoc of my means,
Nor my bad life reft me so much of friends,
But they shall find awaked in such a kind
Both strength of limb and policy of mind,
Ability in means, and choice of friends,
To quit me of them throughly. — William Shakespeare

When Fortune means to men most good, She looks upon them with a threatening eye. — William Shakespeare

Although I enjoyed and respected Kipling, Poe, Butler, Thackeray and Henley, I saved my young and loyal passion for Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson and W.E.B. Du Bois' "Litany at Atlanta." But it was Shakespeare who said, "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes." It was a state with which I felt myself most familiar. — Maya Angelou

This is in thee a nature but infected;
A poor unmanly melancholy sprung
From change of fortune. Why this spade? this place?
This slave-like habit? and these looks of care?
Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft;
Hug their diseased perfumes, and have forgot
That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods,
By putting on the cunning of a carper.
Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive
By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee,
And let his very breath, whom thou'lt observe,
Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain,
And call it excellent: thou wast told thus;
Thou gavest thine ears like tapsters that bid welcome
To knaves and all approachers: 'tis most just
That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again,
Rascals should have 't. Do not assume my likeness. — William Shakespeare

So oft it chances in particular men
That for some vicious mole of nature in
them
As in their birth (wherein they are not guilty,
Since nature cannot choose his origin),
By the o'ergrowth of some complexion,
Oft breaking down the pales and forts of
reason,
Or by some habit that too much o'erleavens
The form of plausive manners - that these
men,
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect,
Being nature's livery or fortune's star,
Their virtues else (be they as pure as grace,
As infinite as man may undergo)
Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particular fault. The dram of evil
Doth all the noble substance of a doubt
To his own scandal. — William Shakespeare

Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward!
Thou little valiant, great in villainy!
Thou ever strong upon the stronger side!
Thou Fortune's champion, that dost never fight
But where her humorous ladyship is by
To teach thee safety. — William Shakespeare

Let us sit and mock the good housewife Fortune from her wheel, that her gifts may henceforth be bestowed equally, I would we could do so for her benefits are mightily misplaced and the bountiful blind girl doth most mistake in her gifts to women. 'Tis true for those that she makes fair she scarce makes honest and those that she makes honest she makes very ill-favouredly. Nay, now thou goest from Fortunes office to Natures. Fortune reigns in gifts of the world, not in the lineaments of Nature. — William Shakespeare

A thousand moral paintings I can show
That shall demonstrate these quick blows of Fortune's
More pregnantly than words. — William Shakespeare

Well, if Fortune be a woman, she's a good wench for this gear. — William Shakespeare

I am even
The natural fool of fortune. — William Shakespeare

Fortune is merry,
And in this mood will give us anything. — William Shakespeare

What else may hap, to time I will commit. — William Shakespeare

RODERIGO What a full fortune does the thick lips owe, If he can carry't thus! — William Shakespeare

Women are not In their best fortunes strong, but want will perjure the ne'er-touched vestal. — William Shakespeare

In that small [time] most greatly lived this star of England:
Fortune made his sword, By which the world's best garden he achiev'd
And left it to his son imperial lord.
Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crown'd King
of France and England did this King succeed;
Whose state so many of had the managing,
That they lost France and made his England bleed. — William Shakespeare

Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck,
And yet methinks I have astronomy.
But not to tell of good or evil luck,
Of plagues, of dearths, or season's quality;
Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell ... Or say with princes if it shall go well ... — William Shakespeare

Swaggering in the coffee-houses and ruffling it in the streets were the men who had sailed with Frobisher and Drake and Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Hawkins, and Sir Richard Granville; had perhaps witnessed the heroic death of Sir Philip Sidney, at Zutphen; had served with Raleigh in Anjou, Picardy, Languedoc, in the Netherlands, in the Irish civil war; had taken part in the dispersion of the Spanish Armada, and in the bombardment of Cadiz; had filled their cups to the union of Scotland with England; had suffered shipwreck on the Barbary Coast, or had, by the fortune of war, felt the grip of the Spanish Inquisition; who could tell tales of the marvels seen in new-found America and the Indies, and, perhaps, like Captain John Smith, could mingle stories of the naive simplicity of the natives beyond the Atlantic, with charming narratives of the wars in Hungary, the beauties of the seraglio of the Grand Turk, and the barbaric pomp of the Khan of Tartary. — William Shakespeare

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures. — William Shakespeare

Yet, fortune cannot recompense me better
Than to die well, and not my master's debtor. — William Shakespeare

Though Fortune's malice overthrow my state,
My mind exceeds the compass of her wheel. — William Shakespeare

Fortune reigns in gifts of the world. — William Shakespeare

Charmian: Kind sir, give me a good fortune.
Fortuneteller:
I don't make fortunes; I only see them.
Charmian:
Then see a good one for me.
Fortuneteller:
Your beauty will be even greater than it is now.
Charmian
(to the others) He means I'll get fat.
Iras
No, he means you'll use makeup when you're old.
Fortuneteller:
You will love more than you are loved.
Charmian:
I had rather heat my liver with drinking. — William Shakespeare

Yield not thy neck To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind Still ride in triumph over all mischance. — William Shakespeare

There is a time in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. — William Shakespeare

Now the fair goddess, Fortune,
Fall deep in love with thee, and her great charms
Misguide thy opposers' swords! — William Shakespeare

Wisdom and fortune combating together,
If that the former dare but what it can,
No chance may shake it. — William Shakespeare

Day, night, late, early,
At home, abroad, alone, in company,
Waking or sleeping, still my care hath been
To have her match'd; and having now provided
A gentleman of princely parentage,
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd,
Stuff'd, as they say, with honourable parts,
Proportion'd as one's thought would wish a man-
And then to have a wretched puling fool,
A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender,
To answer 'I'll not wed, I cannot love;
I am too young, I pray you pardon me'! — William Shakespeare

To be a well-favoured man is the gift of fortune; but to write and read comes by nature. — William Shakespeare

Will Fortune never come with both hands full,
But write her fair words still in foulest terms? — William Shakespeare

And To be or not to be, that is the question;
Whether 't is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or, by opposing, end them. — William Shakespeare

Fortune love you. — William Shakespeare

Lady, with me, with me thy fortune lies. — William Shakespeare

As a decrepit father takes delight To see his active child do deeds of youth, So I, made lame by fortune's dearest spite, Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth. — William Shakespeare

The fortune of us that are the moon's men doth ebb and flow like the sea, being governed, as the sea is, by the moon. — William Shakespeare

This world is not for aye, nor 'tis not strange
That even our loves should with our fortunes change,
For 'tis a question left us yet to prove,
Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love. — William Shakespeare