William Shakespeare's influence extends from theatre and literature to present-day movies and the English language itself. Widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, and the world's pre-eminent dramatist, Shakespeare transformed European theatre by expanding expectations about what could be accomplished through characterization, plot, language and genre. Shakespeare's writings have also influenced a large number of notable novelists and poets over the years, including Herman Melville and Charles Dickens, and continue to influence new authors even today. Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in the history of the English-speaking world after the various writers of the Bible, and many of his quotations and neologisms have passed into everyday usage in English and other languages.
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Famous quotes containing the words william shakespeare, william, shakespeare and/or influence:
“Old, cold, withered, and of intolerable entrails.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Go! climb that rock, and when thou there hast found
A star, contracted in a diamond,”
—Sir William Davenant (1606–1668)
“Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The improvements of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of man’s existence: as our skeletons, probably, are not to be distinguished from those of our ancestors.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)