Romeo And Juliet Quotes: 30 Top Quotes From Romeo And Juliet (2024)

Romeo and Juliet quotes are some of Shakespeare’s most popular, and the play is full of enduring quotes from start to grisly finish.

In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare gave the world such memorable quotes as “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet“, “parting is such sweet sorrow”, “a plague on both your houses” and dozens more. Below is our pick of the very best quotes from Romeo and Juliet, spoken by a variety of primary and secondary characters in the play. After each quote, the character speaking is listed, along with act and scene.

“A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.“

(Chorus, Prologue)

“Abraham: Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
Sampson: I do bite my thumb, sir.”

(act 1, scene 1)

“O teach me how I should forget to think!”

Romeo (act 1 scene 1)

“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs.
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;
Being vex’d a sea nourish’d with lovers’ tears.”

Romeo (act 1 scene 1)

“Under loves heavy burden do I sink.”

Romeo (act 1 scene 4)

“Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”

Romeo (act 1 scene 5)

“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright.”

Romeo (act 1 scene 5)

“But, soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”

Romeo (act 2, scene 2)

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

Juliet (act 2 scene 2)

“That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Juliet (act 2, scene 2)

“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)

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”

Juliet (act 2, scene 2)

“O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circle orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.”

Juliet (act 2, scene 2)

“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)

“This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.”

Juliet (act 2, scene 2)

“Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

Juliet (act 2, scene 2)

“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.”

Friar Laurence (act 2, scene 3)

“For this alliance may so happy prove,
To turn your households’ rancour to pure love.”

Friar Laurence (act 2, scene 3)

“Women may fall when there’s no strength in men.”

Friar Laurence (act 2, scene 3)

“These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder”

Friar Laurence (act 2, scene 5)

“A plague o’ both your houses!”

Mercutio (act 3, scene 1)

“Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.”

Prince (act 3, scene 1)

“Oh, I am fortune’s fool!”

Romeo (act 3, scene 1)

“Give me my Romeo, and, when I shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”

Juliet (act 3, scene 2)

“Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink: I drink to thee.”

Juliet (act 4, scene 3)

“O true apothecary,
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.”

Romeo (act 5, scene 3)

“Tempt not a desperate man”

Romeo (act 5, scene 3)

“O happy dagger,
This is thy sheath: there rust, and let me die.”

Juliet (act 5, scene 3)

“All are punished.”

Prince (act 5, scene 3)

“For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

Prince (act 5, scene 3)

Are we missing any great Romeo and Juliet quotes? Let us know in the comments section below.

Read quotes from Romeo and Juliet translated into modern English:

• How oft when men are at the point of death
• Gallop apace you fiery footed steed
• The clock struck nine when I did see the nurse
• She doth teach the torches to burn bright
• What light through yonder window breaks
• See the RSC’s take on Romeo and Juliet on stage