"William Shakespeare takes credit for being the only playwright to have no less than five of his plays simultaneously appearing on Broadway."
(The actual number was four.)
(The actual number was four.)
— Comment in article about Broadway in The New York Times
 |
| (photo credit) |
William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, a successful glover and alderman originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual birthdate remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, St George's Day. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholar's mistake, has proved appealing to biographers, since Shakespeare died 23 April 1616. He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. (see full article here)
This is actually the first time I've taken the time to read about Shakespeare's life after I see someone tweet about his natal day which leads me to this website. I'm not much of a fan and I was amazed of so many people, bloggers in particular are actually mesmerized by him and that includes a little girl, yes, maybe about 10yo quoting one of his works, memorized by heart.
I don't know but even though I like literature and writing in general Shakespeare bores me and his work is "Greek to me". I'm not fond of old English (I used to and have tried to learn and understand it but now I just don't want my life to be that complicated) and theatrical plays so long I can't just finish reading them and it makes me sleepy. I like Romeo and Juliet but only because of the movies then I got tired of the tragic story. See? Told you I'm not really the intellectual type.
But I know he's also one of the people who inspires me to write and I got here a few of my favorite Shakespearean quotes to ponder upon and I don't really know why I'd say happy birthday to Shakespeare, people don't even know the actual date of his birth ??? But fine I already did on twitter and fb so calm down you guys and yeah it's on the title of this post... toinks!
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
Being born is like being kidnapped. And then sold into slavery.
Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
Brevity is the soul of wit.
Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones.
Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
If music be the food of love, play on.
There are still a lot more but it will take me forever so if you're craving about some Shakespearean quotes you can check everything Shakespeare here or for complete list of quotes and direct links from its main sources or works go here.
And I found this one strange and funny thing about him:
Incidentally, he left his wife his "second-best bed" in his will, which has had historians scratching their heads for centuries. (see full article here)
