40+ King Lear Quotes by William Shakespeare

King Lear Madness Quotes

The recurring themes of madness and betrayal are at the heart of the play. Here are some King Lear quotes about the madness of 'King Lear.'

Besides madness, King Lear quotes are also talking about betrayal. So, let’s have a read.

• "Return to her, and fifty men dismiss'd? No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose to wage against the enmity o' th' air, to be a comrade with the wolf and owl,— Necessity's sharp pinch!" —King Lear, Act 2, Scene 4

• "Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood." —King Lear, Act 2, Scene 4

• "Who is it that can tell me who I am?" —King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1

• "O, that way madness lies; let me shun that." —King Lear, Act 2, Scene 4

• "Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, More hideous when thou show'st thee in a child than the sea-monster!" —King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4

• "Proper deformity shows not in the fiend so horrid as in woman." —Albany, Act 4, Scene 2

• "Truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out, when Lady the brach may stand by the fire and stink." —The Fool, Act 1, Scene 4

• "Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are, That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp; Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel.” —King Lear, Act 3, Scene 4

• "I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness; I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children, You owe me no subscription: then let fall Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave, A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man." —King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2

• "I have full cause of weeping; but this heart Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws, Or ere I'll weep. O Fool, I shall go mad!" —King Lear, Act 2, Scene 4

• "Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks! You sulfurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder, Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world! Crack nature's molds, all germens spill at once That make ingrateful man!" —King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2

• "Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides. Who covers faults, at last shame them derides.” —Cordelia, Act 1, Scene 1

• "O, reason not the need! our basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not nature more than nature needs, man's life's as cheap as beast's." —King Lear, Act 2, Scene 4

• "No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison: We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage: When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down, And ask of thee forgiveness: so we'll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them too, Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out; And take upon the mystery of things, As if we were God's spies: and we'll wear out, In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, That ebb and flow by the moon." —King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3

• "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!" —King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4

King Lear Important Quotes

King Lear Quotes - Photo by klimkin from Pixabay

Below are some King Lear quotes you don’t want to miss. Enjoy!

• “When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “The prince of darkness is a gentleman!” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “Who is it that can tell me who I am?” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “Many true words hath been spoken in jest.” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “And worse I may be yet: the worst is not / So long as we can say 'This is the worst.” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “The weight of this sad time we must obey, / Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. /The oldest hath borne most: we that are young /Shall never see so much, nor live so long.” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear

• “How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!” ― William Shakespeare, King Lear