William Shakespeare is unquestionably one of the most renowned personalities of the known history: one of the greatest writers ever lived who inspired people through his plays, sonnets and quotes for centuries, and his work still looks fresh. It will not be a lie if we say that he is beyond time. His words are as valid today as they were 400 years ago, and everyone can easily relate them to their lives. No other writer in human history has got a legacy even remotely comparable to Shakespeare’s. Even now, after 400 years of his death, his quotes, dialogues, and sayings are famous among people of all cultures, living on different continents and speaking various languages. In most of his quotes, Shakespeare appears a fatherly figure who is trying to teach us the principles of life. Being a huge Shakespeare fan (and who isn’t?), I have listed five of the numerous life lessons we can learn from him.
1. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves” – Julius Caesar
This line from Julius Caesar is one of the most famous dialogues of the Bard of Avon. It encourages people to stand up for themselves and control their destiny on their own. We create our fate, and if we are determined enough, no one but us can control it. So stop being lazy, work hard and don’t blame others for your failures.
2.“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” – Hamlet
This quote, too, is one of the most cherished Shakespeare citations of all time. Overthinking is never good. When we think about something, we usually go through the best and worst possible outcomes. It is our way of thinking that makes something either right or wrong for us. So, always think positively and avoid being judgemental.
3.“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” – Julius Caesar
Cowardliness is among the worst possible characters in a human being. It makes us tolerate many things that we should never do and forces us to be puppets instead of the living, breathing human beings. A life spent in fear is not a life, not even close! If you want the taste of actual life, stop being a punk and do stand for what’s right.
4. “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” – All’s Well That Ends Well
These nine words contain knowledge worth hundreds of libraries (and this is my personal favourite). This simple line inspires us to spread love and to share it with everyone; it also teaches us never to do anything wrong with anyone, but, most importantly, it teaches us not to trust everyone because not everyone is trustworthy. Only trust those who are faithful to you. Otherwise, you may have to suffer.
5. “Nothing will come of nothing.” – King Lear
Have truer words ever been said? Everything has a price. If you want to succeed in something, you have to give it a hundred per cent and work as hard as you can to get there. If we don’t work hard enough to achieve our goal, we have no one but ourselves to blame.