Quotes from Richard III

18 notable lines from William Shakespeare · c. 1593

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

Richard, Richard III

  1. Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York.

    Richard, Richard III

  2. Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

    Richard, Duke of Gloucester — opening lines, Act I, sc. i

  3. And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain And hate the idle pleasures of these days.

    Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Act I, sc. i

  4. Was ever woman in this humour wooed? Was ever woman in this humour won?

    Richard, Richard III

  5. Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won?

    Richard, after wooing Lady Anne, Act I, sc. ii

  6. Off with his head! Now, by Saint Paul I swear, I will not dine until I see the same.

    Richard, condemning Hastings, Act III, sc. iv

  7. And thus I clothe my naked villany With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

    Richard, Act I, sc. iii

  8. Conscience is but a word that cowards use, Devised at first to keep the strong in awe: Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.

    King Richard before Bosworth, Act V, sc. iii

  9. That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad!

    Queen Elizabeth, of Richard, Act IV, sc. iv

  10. Slave, I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die.

    King Richard at Bosworth, Act V, sc. iv

  11. Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time Into this breathing world, scarce half made up.

    Richard, on his own deformity, Act I, sc. i

  12. Shine out, fair sun, till I have bought a glass, That I may see my shadow as I pass.

    Richard, Act I, sc. ii

  13. By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers.

    King Richard, waking from the ghosts' visitation, Act V, sc. iii

  14. So wise so young, they say, do never live long.

    Richard, aside about the young Prince Edward, Act III, sc. i

  15. Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end; Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.

    Queen Margaret, cursing Richard, Act IV, sc. iv

  16. I shall despair. There is no creature loves me; And if I die, no soul shall pity me.

    King Richard, Act V, sc. iii

  17. An honest tale speeds best being plainly told.

    Queen Elizabeth, Act IV, sc. iv