Famous Hamlet Quotes

I,iii - Neither a borrower or a lender be...


This line is said by Polonius to Laertes when Laertes was about to leave to France. This line is one of the advices that Polonius gives to Laertes before he leaves. He says that he should never borrow money from someone , neither get money from someone because that is what causes troubles.

I,v -Something is rotten in the state of Denmark...


This line is said by Marcellus ,when him and Horatio are talking about if they should follow Hamlet because Hamlet went to see the ghost. Basically Marcellus says something is going wrong in Denmark which is the ghost issue because they are worried about what if the ghost does something bad to Hamlet.

III.i - To be or not to be that is the question...


This famous quote is the first line of Hamlet's most famous speech. After all of that drama happened to him , he says to live or not to live that is the question. He says basically why should I live when everything bad is happening to me. His love, Ophelia betrayed him, his uncle killed his dad and married to his mother,etc. In the movies , the actors usually hold a skull while they are giving that speech which shows that is he chooses not to be, he is going to be the skull and if he chooses to be, he is going to be still who he is.

IV,v- When sorrows come, they come not in single spies but in battalions.


Gertrude, which is the queen , says that when sorrows come, they do not come in little pieces, they come all together at once and hurt you a lot . She says this line in this scene when Ophelia has gone mad and she sings songs. She says this line because everything bad happened to her lately. Hamlet killed Polonius, he left to England, now Laertes wants to kill the king because he didn't take enough care of Hamlet.

II,ii- Brevity is the soul of wit


This line is said by Polonius when he is talking to the King about Hamlet's insanity. Usually Polonius is known by his useless advises and long speeches but in this line , he says if you talk less and talk to your point, is shows smartness while he gives long speeches.