Hamlet Quotes

The 8 most famous lines from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1600), each with its speaker and the scene it belongs to. These are the quotes readers underline, copy into essays and put on walls - gathered in one place, explained in a line.

• “Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.”

  - Polonius. Aside while questioning the 'mad' prince — even the court's professional windbag can see the performance has structure.

• “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

  - Hamlet. After the ghost, to his one trusted friend: the play's whole epistemology in two lines.

• “The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right!”

  - Hamlet. Immediately after accepting the ghost's command — revenge sworn in the first act, and the entire play is the delay between these lines and act five.

• “The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.”

  - Hamlet. Closing the second-act soliloquy: he will test the ghost before he obeys it, which is what makes Hamlet Hamlet.

• “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

  - Gertrude. Watching the Player Queen vow never to remarry — an aside that quietly fits the speaker better than the actress.

• “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio.”

  - Hamlet. In the graveyard with the jester's skull — the most famous prop in theater doing what the whole play does: holding death at eye level and making jokes until they stop working.

• “Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

  - Horatio. The farewell over Hamlet's body — the line most often misattributed to Hamlet himself.

• “The rest is silence.”

  - Hamlet. His actual last words, after asking Horatio to tell the story — five syllables that ended four hours of talking.

Why these lines survive

William Shakespeare’s sentences earn their fame by compression: each line carries the whole book’s argument in a form you can carry in your pocket. Read in order, the 8 quotes above also sketch the novel’s shape - the world it opens, the pressure it applies, the note it ends on. If you meet them before the book, nothing is spoiled beyond mood; if you meet them after, each one lands like a place you have been.

Quote collectors: pair this page with the Hamlet quiz to see which lines actually stuck, the book club questions when you want to argue about them, or how long the reread takes - about 2 hours and 6 minutes at an average pace. If the lines did their job and you want more of the same nerve, the books like Hamlet list is next.

Want the whole shelf’s lines? Our William Shakespeare plays in order guide lists every book.

How to use a quotes page

Three honest uses. Before reading: skim the first two quotes to taste the prose - if the voice does not pull you, the book will not either. During: mark which quote you actually reach in the text, because the distance between famous line and lived scene is where a book keeps its secrets. After: pick the one quote you would defend at dinner and check it against the discussion questions - a quote you can argue about is a quote you understood. What a quotes page is not for is replacing the book; five lines of William Shakespeare are an invitation, not a summary.

More quote collections

Frankenstein quotes, Dracula quotes, The Picture of Dorian Gray quotes, Wuthering Heights quotes - or browse quotes from all 133 classics. Then see which of them stuck on the original book quiz.

Frequently asked questions