| Nothing. Nothing can come of nothing, speak again. (Act 1 Scene 1) | Lear-CordeliaTranslation: Come on, “nothing” will get you nothing. Try again. |
| Now, gods, stand up for bastards! (Act 1 Scene 2) | Edmund-audienceTranslation: Look out, I’m on my way up. Three cheers for bastards! |
| How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is To have a thankless child! (Act 1 Scene 4) | Lear-AlbanyTranslation: Make my daughter feel—make her feel how an ungrateful child hurts worse than a snakebite.—Now let’s leave. Go! |
| Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise. (Act, 1 Scene 5) | Fool-LearTranslation: You’re not supposed to get old until you’re wise. |
| Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow, You cataracts and hurricanoes. (Act 3 Scene 2) | Lear-FoolTranslation: Blow, winds! Blow until your cheeks crack! Rage on, blow! Let tornadoes spew water until the steeples of our churches and the weathervanes are all drowned. |
| I am a man More sinned against than sinning. (Act 3 Scene 2) | Lear-KentTranslation: Other people have sinned against me more than I have sinned against them. |
| As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods: They kill us for their sport. (Act 4 Scene 1) | Gloucester-EdgarTranslation: The gods play around with us as cruelly as schoolboys who pull the wings off flies. |
| So distribution should undo excess, And each man have enough. (Act 4 Scene 1) | Gloucester-EdgarTranslation: That way wealth would be redistributed until everyone has enough to survive. Are you familiar with Dover? |
| They told me I was everything: ’tis a lie, I am no ague-proof. (Act 4 Scene 5) | Lear-GloucesterTranslation: They told me I was everything. It’s a lie. I’m not immune to chills. |
| Get thee glass eyes, And like a scurvy politician seem To see the things thou dost not. (Act 4 Scene 5) | Lear-GloucesterTranslation: Get yourself some glass eyes, and pretend to see things you can’t, like a crooked politician. |
| When we are born, we cry that we are come To this great stage of fools. (Act 4 Scene 5) | Lear-GloucesterTranslation: When we’re born, we cry because we’ve arrived on the stage of life, like all the other fools. |
| Men must endure Their going hence, even as their coming hither. (Act 5 Scene 2) | Edgar-GloucesterTranslation: You can’t choose your time of death any more than your time of birth. We live and die when our time comes. |
| When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down And ask of thee forgiveness. (Act 5 Scene 3) | Lear-CordeliaTranslation: When you ask for my blessing, I’ll get down on my knees and ask you to forgive me. |
| Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, And thou no breath at all? (Act 5 Scene 3) | Lear-Edgar/KentTranslation: Why should a dog or horse or rat have life, but not you? |
| We that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long. (Act 5 Scene 3) | Albany-Kent/EdgarTranslation: We young ones will never see as much as he has seen, or live as long. |
King Lear Quotes
July 5, 2019