Quote by William Shakespeare

To be, or not to be, that is the question:Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to sufferThe Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,And by opposing end them: to die, to sleepNo more; and by a sleep, to say we endThe Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocksThat Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummationDevoutly to be wished. To die to sleep,To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub.

To be, or not to be, that is the question:Whether 'tis Noble

Summary

This quote is from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. The speaker, Prince Hamlet, is contemplating the nature of life and whether it is better to continue enduring the hardships and uncertainties of existence or to choose death as a way to escape such struggles. He ponders if dying would bring a permanent end to emotional pain and the various unfortunate events that come along with being alive. The mention of sleep introduces the uncertainty of what lies beyond death, as dreams may offer unknown experiences or complications.

Topics

Death Pain Sleep Suicide

By William Shakespeare

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load, And th

They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load, And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed So low for long, they never right themselves.

Life Nature Inspirational Trees Birches

This moment contains all moments.

This moment contains all moments.

Moments

I would not be dying if it were not for her. I would have st

I would not be dying if it were not for her. I would have stayed home, as I have always stayed home, and I would have been safe, and I would have done the one thing I have always wanted to do, which is to grow up.

Dying Safe Grow Up Stay Home

I've spent more on my Dodger tickets that I did on my car.

I've spent more on my Dodger tickets that I did on my car.

Car

I'd just killed some of the best riders in the world - and I

I'd just killed some of the best riders in the world - and I was clean. I'd taken nothing - no EPO, no cortisone, no testosterone, no painkillers, no caffeine. I had justified to myself that I was a great rider without drugs - yet perversely given myself the green light to dope again. I'd proved what I could do clean - how much more could I do if I was doped?

Success Pain Drugs Inspirational Self Doping

Every reform was once a private opinion, and when it shall b

Every reform was once a private opinion, and when it shall be a private opinion again, it will solve the problem of the age.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reform Correction

To be or not to be isn't the question. The question is how t

To be or not to be isn't the question. The question is how to prolong being.

Health

I've spent a lot of time and money trying to keep my anger i

I've spent a lot of time and money trying to keep my anger in control.

Anger

I've been promoted to middle management. I never thought I'd

I've been promoted to middle management. I never thought I'd sink so low.

Management

If the ordinary wage-earner worked four hours a day, there w

If the ordinary wage-earner worked four hours a day, there would be enough for everybody and no unemployment -- assuming a certain very moderate amount of sensible organization. This idea shocks the well-to-do, because they are convinced that the poor would not know how to use so much leisure. In America men often work long hours even when they are well off; such men, naturally, are indignant at the idea of leisure for wage-earners, except as the grim punishment of unemployment; in fact, they dislike leisure even for their sons.

Bertrand Russell

Philosophy Economics

Love never reasons, but profusely gives; it gives like a tho

Love never reasons, but profusely gives; it gives like a thoughtless prodigal its all, and then trembles least it has done to little.

Love

Abused as we abuse it at present, dramatic art is in no sens

Abused as we abuse it at present, dramatic art is in no sense cathartic; it is merely a form of emotional masturbation. It is the rarest thing to find a player who has not had his character affected for the worse by the practice of his profession. Nobody can make a habit of self-exhibition, nobody can exploit his personality for the sake of exercising a kind of hypnotic power over others, and remain untouched by the process.

Acting Actors