William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is filled with powerful quotes that capture deep emotions and important ideas. This famous play tells the story of ambition, guilt, and the struggle for power. Many of these quotes are memorable and thought-provoking, making them perfect for anyone interested in literature or life lessons. Whether you’re a student reading the play for class or someone curious about its themes, these quotes can provide a fresh perspective on our choices and actions.
The quotes from “Macbeth” can inspire and challenge you in your daily life. They remind us of the consequences of our actions and the importance of staying true to ourselves. By reflecting on these powerful words, you can gain insights into your own ambitions and decisions. They may encourage you to think critically about what you want and how you achieve it, ultimately guiding you to make better choices in your life.
Top Quotes From Macbeth
Words of wisdom: Powerful lines from Macbeth reveal the human mind’s tug-of-war between desire, fear, and conscience. These phrases stay with us because they reflect timeless truths about choice, consequence, and the masks we wear.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” – First Witch
“When shall we three meet again?” – First Witch
“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!” – Witches
“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” – Macbeth
“Out, damned spot! out, I say!” – Lady Macbeth
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.” – Macbeth
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.” – Macbeth
“Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” – Lady Macbeth
“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” – Witches
“What’s done is done.” – Lady Macbeth
Quotes From Macbeth — Ambition and Power
Words of wisdom: Ambition can ignite greatness or consume the soul. These lines show how desire for power twists judgment and invites dangerous choices, urging us to weigh motives before acting.
“Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself, and falls on th’ other.” – Macbeth
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.” – Macbeth
“Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme.” – Macbeth
“The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me in borrowed robes?” – Macbeth
“To be thus is nothing; but to be safely thus.” – Macbeth
“We have scotched the snake, not killed it.” – Macbeth
“I am in blood stepped in so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.” – Macbeth
“There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” – Duncan
“He will be a man after my own heart.” – Duncan
“Screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.” – Lady Macbeth
Quotes From Macbeth — Guilt and Conscience
Words of wisdom: Guilt leaves stains no water can wash away. These lines reveal how conscience pursues the guilty, turning once-bold plans into endless torment and fractured minds.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” – Macbeth
“Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’.” – Macbeth
“It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood.” – Macbeth
“Thou canst not say I did it: never shake thy gory locks at me.” – Macbeth
“O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!” – Macbeth
“I am cabin’d, cribb’d, confin’d, bound in to saucy doubts and fears.” – Macbeth
“All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” – Lady Macbeth
“What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” – Lady Macbeth
“To bed, to bed; there’s a knocking at the gate.” – Macbeth
“The near in blood, the nearer bloody.” – Donalbain
Quotes From Macbeth — Fate and Prophecy
Words of wisdom: Prophecy offers hope and hazard—words that steer choices yet may be traps. These lines show how destiny, or the belief in it, shapes decisions and self-fulfilling outcomes.
“All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” – Witches
“If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not…” – Banquo
“Lesser than Macbeth, and greater; not so happy, yet much happier.” – Witches
“Present fears are less than horrible imaginings: my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical.” – Macbeth
“The instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence.” – Banquo
“Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day.” – Macbeth
“None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” – Apparition
“Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” – Apparition
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” – Second Witch
“If chance may have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.” – Macbeth
Quotes From Macbeth — Lady Macbeth’s Will
Words of wisdom: Lady Macbeth embodies ruthless resolve and the cost of suppressing empathy. These lines reveal a fierce will that both propels action and sows seeds of ruin.
“Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here.” – Lady Macbeth
“Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell.” – Lady Macbeth
“Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry ‘Hold, hold!'” – Lady Macbeth
“When you durst do it, then you were a man.” – Lady Macbeth
“Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.” – Lady Macbeth
“Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures.” – Lady Macbeth
“The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements.” – Lady Macbeth
“I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums and dash’d the brains out.” – Lady Macbeth
“You must leave this.” – Lady Macbeth
“Pray you, keep seat: the fit is momentary.” – Lady Macbeth
Quotes From Macbeth — Witches and the Supernatural
Words of wisdom: The supernatural distorts reality, revealing hidden desires and fears. These lines from the Weird Sisters and apparitions show how dark suggestions can shape mortal choices.
“Hover through the fog and filthy air.” – First Witch
“Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog.” – Witches
“Where the place? upon the heath.” – First Witch
“Round about the cauldron go; in the poisoned entrails throw.” – Witches
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” – Second Witch
“Show me, show me.” – Macbeth
“The greatest is behind.” – Apparition
“None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” – Apparition
“Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” – Apparition
“Thrice to thine and thrice to mine and thrice again, to make up nine.” – Witches
Quotes From Macbeth — Darkness and Night
Words of wisdom: Night conceals deeds and reveals inner turmoil. These lines use darkness as both companion and accomplice to ambition and fear, teaching caution about acts done in shadow.
“Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires.” – Macbeth
“Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell.” – Lady Macbeth
“There’s husbandry in heaven; their candles are all out.” – Banquo
“The night has been unruly.” – Lord
“Good things of day begin to droop and drowse; while night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.” – Ross
“A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, and yet I would not sleep.” – Macbeth
“Infirm of purpose!” – Lady Macbeth
“It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – Macbeth
“Out, out, brief candle!” – Macbeth
“Come, seeling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day.” – Lady Macbeth
Quotes From Macbeth — Blood and Violence
Words of wisdom: Blood and violence in Macbeth are visible traces of moral collapse. These lines confront the vivid consequences of ruthless acts and the inescapable demand for reckoning.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” – Macbeth
“It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood.” – Macbeth
“I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more…” – Macbeth
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles.” – Donalbain
“The near in blood, the nearer bloody.” – Donalbain
“Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, as the weird women promised, and I fear thou play’dst most foully for’t.” – Banquo
“Look not so pale: I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on’s grave.” – Macbeth
“There the grown serpent lies; the worm that’s fled hath nature that in time will venom breed.” – Macbeth
“Our bloody cousins are bestowed in England and in Ireland.” – Lennox
“This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues.” – Angus
Quotes From Macbeth — Sleep and Madness
Words of wisdom: Sleep represents innocence and recovery; its loss denotes a poisoned mind. These lines illuminate how guilt and fear destroy rest and sanity.
“Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath…” – Macbeth
“Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more!'” – Macbeth
“A little water clears us of this deed.” – Lady Macbeth
“All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” – Lady Macbeth
“Pray you, keep seat: the fit is momentary.” – Lady Macbeth
“Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” – Lady Macbeth
“I have almost forgot the taste of fears.” – Macbeth
“Here’s the smell of the blood still: all perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” – Lady Macbeth
“The mind I sway by and the heart I bear shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.” – Macbeth
“To bed, to bed; there’s a knocking at the gate.” – Macbeth
Quotes From Macbeth — Leadership and Kingship
Words of wisdom: Leadership requires virtue; without it, authority crumbles. These lines compare true kingship with usurped rule and explore what makes a ruler worthy of loyalty.
“There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” – Duncan
“Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.” – Duncan
“He has no children. All my pretty ones? Did you say all?” – Macduff
“Bleed, bleed, poor country! Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure.” – Macduff
“Those he commands move only in command, nothing in love.” – Malcolm
“An absolute trust… he was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust.” – Duncan
“Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal, and with him pour we in our country’s purge.” – Malcolm
“This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, was once thought honest.” – Angus
“Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say, lamentings heard i’ th’ air, strange screams of death.” – Ross
“Those who would have sleep for peace must first restore right rule.” – Malcolm
Quotes From Macbeth — Appearance vs Reality
Words of wisdom: What we show the world can hide destructive motives. These lines warn that façade and truth often clash, urging moral clarity beyond surface impressions.
“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” – Macbeth
“Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” – Lady Macbeth
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles.” – Donalbain
“The instruments of darkness tell us truths, to betray’s in deepest consequence.” – Banquo
“To show an unfelt sorrow is an office which the false man does easy.” – Malcolm
“What’s done is done.” – Lady Macbeth
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition.” – Macbeth
“It is the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.” – Lady Macduff
“A gentleman who is not truly loyal may wear the loyal face most convincingly.” – Scholar Edmund
“We are yet but young in deed.” – Macbeth
Quotes From Macbeth — Regret and Despair
Words of wisdom: Regret hollows the spirit. These lines reveal the bitter aftermath of choices made in haste and the bleak recognition of lost innocence and purpose.
“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.” – Macbeth
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow…” – Macbeth
“It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – Macbeth
“Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time.” – Macbeth
“My way of life is fall’n into the sear, the yellow leaf.” – Macbeth
“I am cabined, cribbed, confin’d, bound in to saucy doubts and fears.” – Macbeth
“What’s done cannot be undone; to bed, to bed, to bed.” – Lady Macbeth
“I have almost forgot the taste of fears.” – Macbeth
“Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.” – Malcolm
“The grief that should be borne holds like a stone.” – Ross
Quotes From Macbeth — Courage and Honor
Words of wisdom: True courage anchors honor even amid chaos. These lines contrast heroic steadiness with the hollow valor of tyranny, reminding us what real strength demands.
“I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none.” – Macbeth
“For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel…” – Captain
“As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.” – Captain
“Lay on, Macduff; and damn’d be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!'” – Macbeth
“I will not yield, to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet.” – Macbeth
“Be bloody, bold, and resolute.” – Apparition
“Bleed, bleed, poor country! Great tyranny, lay thy basis sure.” – Macduff
“Not in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned in evils to top Macbeth.” – Macduff
“Hold, hold!” – Macduff
“Such welcome and unwelcome news.” – Malcolm
Quotes From Macbeth — Soliloquies and Reflections
Words of wisdom: Soliloquies are windows into a troubled soul. These reflective lines expose inner debate and the tragic logic that leads characters toward irreversible acts.
“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” – Macbeth
“If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly.” – Macbeth
“To be thus is nothing; but to be safely thus.” – Macbeth
“Make our faces vizards to our hearts, disguising what they are.” – Macbeth
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition.” – Macbeth
“Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.” – Macbeth
“There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” – Duncan
“It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – Macbeth
“I have almost forgot the taste of fears.” – Macbeth
“This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good.” – Macbeth
Quotes From Macbeth — Short and Memorable Lines
Words of wisdom: Short lines often carry the deepest impact. These concise phrases cut straight to truth—useful for reflection, citation, or a moment’s clarity.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” – Witches
“Out, damned spot!” – Lady Macbeth
“Double, double toil and trouble.” – Witches
“All hail, Macbeth!” – Witches
“What’s done is done.” – Lady Macbeth
“Lay on, Macduff.” – Macbeth
“Hold, enough!” – Macduff
“Sleep no more!” – Macbeth
“Look like th’ innocent flower.” – Lady Macbeth
“Screw your courage to the sticking-place.” – Lady Macbeth
Final Thoughts
Macbeth’s lines endure because they speak to the hardest choices we face: ambition unchecked, the burden of guilt, and the lure of appearances. Shakespeare compresses complex human motives into phrases that still resonate centuries later.
Through soliloquies, speeches, and brief exclamations, Macbeth reveals how language can both conceal and reveal truth. Whether invoked to warn, inspire, or caution, these quotes invite reflection on what we value and how we act.
Finally, reading these quotes encourages careful thought about the consequences of power and the moral cost of pursuing ends without regard to means. They remind us: intentions matter, and character defines legacy.
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