Today, April 23, is the day we celebrate a little ol’ writer called William Shakespeare, who wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets and three narrative poems that we know of, and changed the face of the English language forever.
We’ve studied him in school, they can’t get enough of him in Hollywood, and even though he died hundreds of years ago, his impact on literature and popular culture is still felt strongly to this day.
To mark Shakespeare Day 2019, here’s what you need to know about the Bard’s birth, and some of his most iconic quotes.
When is Shakespeare’s birthday and where was he born?
Shakespeare is said to have been born on this day, 23 April, in 1564, and died exactly 52 years later on 23 April 1616.
He was born and died in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, but spent the majority of his career as a playwright and poet in London.
During his time in the capital, he gave us the likes of Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew and dozens of others.
Iconic Shakespeare quotes
‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date’ – Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
‘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.’ – Jaques in As You Like It
‘If music be the food of love play on.’ – Orsino in Twelfth Night
‘These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder
Which, as they kiss, consume.’ – Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet
‘Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea, and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.’ – Balthazar in Much Ado About Nothing
‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.’ – Prospero in The Tempest
‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’ Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.’ – Malvolio in Twelfth Night
MORE: It’s Shakespeare Day: Here are 14 facts you may not know about the famous playwright
MORE: Shakespeare Quiz: Who said it, Shakespeare or Stormzy?
