“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”

- William Shakespeare’s As You Like It(Act II, Scene VII, lines 139-166)

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“To die, to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to — ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.”

- Excerpt from Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy.

This tattoo was submitted by Ashley:

I took my last exam today, the last test I will have to take to complete my Bachelors Degree. For me, this is huge. I can recall so many times when I wanted to quit. I would thrown down my book and want to scream out of frustration and stress. Giving up would have been so much easier than continuing. But then I would remember what I was working toward, and it would be an injustice to myself if I didn’t finish. And now I have.

Hamlet went through a similar dilemma. He wanted to give up, to kill himself to end the pain and responsibility, to give up on avenging his father’s murder. Out of duty (and partially out of fear) the Danish Prince vows to carry out the task at hand. I am not comparing my situation to that of Hamlet, but I have read this play so many times that I feel for the man. I understand his hesitation, his confusion, his sense of loneliness, and his fear.

…

Hamlet says that by dying we end all of our earthly suffering, which would be a relief. He then wonders what happens after we die, which makes him wearing of suicide.

Although I wanted to quit on multiple occasions, I knew that my life without this accomplishment would be much worse than the hardships I had to endure to reach my goal. And this is the reason that I got my tattoo. It is a reminder of the hard times that made this victory even sweeter. And it also will keep me going when I hit the inevitable rough spots that are to come. Let’s face it, I have an English degree, I’m just asking for stress.

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This Hamlet tattoo was submitted by Joh.

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

- Hamlet, Act I, sc. iii

Joh, however, prefers another quote:

I have to say, I love Hamlet, I love Shakespeare in general, and I love the message of the whole speech.

Plus, the excellent Clueless reference cannot be ignored:

Heather: It’s just like Hamlet said, “To thine own self be true.”
Cher: Hamlet didn’t say that.
Heather: I think I remember Hamlet accurately.
Cher: Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn’t say that. That Polonius guy did.

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Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still,
Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will!
Where shall we dine? O me! What fray was here?
Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all.
Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love.
Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O any thing, of nothing first create!
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire,
sick health!
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!
This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
Dost thou not laugh?

- Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Sc I.

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O, I die, Horatio;
The potent poison quite o’er-crows my spirit:
I cannot live to hear the news from England;
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.

- Hamlet, act V, scene ii

This tattoo belongs to Nicky:

I got this tattoo to celebrate getting a 2:1 for my English Literature degree – I’ve since been accepted to a post-grad course in Shakespeare studies, so I’m sure it’ll be an intersting talking point there!

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“The prince of Cumberland! that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see me black and deep desires”

- Excerpt from Shakespeare’s Macbeth (I.iv.48-51).

This tattoo was submitted by Hilary.

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This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

- Hamlet, Act I, sc. iii

(source 1) (source 2)

The Shakespeare tattoo.

(source)

“Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

– From Macbeth (V, v, 19)

(See another picture here.)

(source)

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This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

- Hamlet, Act I, sc. iii

(source)

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“She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.”

- Shakespeare’s Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)

(source)

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