Penned by early in his celebrated career, endures as one of the Bard's best known, most frequently performed, and most quoted plays. Over the centuries, this tragic tale of star-crossed lovers from feuding Italian families—the Montagues and the Capulets—has inspired retellings from the modern classic to a striking diversity of 21st-century takes, including , , , , , and . Yet when it comes to poetic words full of yearning, adoration, passion, heartache, devotion, and anguish, nothing comes close to the 16th-century original.
Here you'll find our favorite quotes from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to inspire your inner romantic.
Quotes About Love
Love, a common theme throughout Shakespeare’s work, is at the heart of Romeo and Juliet. Whether you're in the throes of first love, seeking to rekindle the flame with your longtime sweetheart, or you just can't get enough of romance, these quotes will leave you swooning.
1. "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." -Romeo (act 2, scene 2)
2. "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" -Juliet (act 2, scene 2)
3. "One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun ne’er saw her match since first the world begun." -Romeo (act 1, scene 2)
4. "Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, having some business, do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return." -Romeo (act 2, scene 2)
5. "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep. The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite." -Juliet (act 2, scene 2)
6. "See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!" -Romeo (act 2, scene 2)
7. "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, for I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." -Romeo (act 1, scene 5)
8. "My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words of that tongue’s uttering, yet I know the sound." -Juliet (act 2, scene 2)
9. "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright." -Romeo (act 1, scene 5)
10. "O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable." -Juliet (act 2, scene 2)
