William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is rich with dramatic language and intense psychological depth, making it a goldmine of memorable quotes.
If you’re a student analyzing themes, a teacher preparing for lessons, or simply a literature enthusiast, this guide is here to help you find the most impactful lines.
From Lady Macbeth’s chilling words to Macbeth’s reflections on power, ambition, and guilt, these quotes capture the essence of the tragedy.
Organized by theme and character, this collection provides exactly what you need — no more endless searching.
Let’s dive into the world of Macbeth’s haunting brilliance.
Lady Macbeth Quotes
🗡️ These quotes showcase Lady Macbeth’s ambition, manipulation, and descent into madness.
- 🩸 Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t
- 🧠 Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
- 🗡️ Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here
- 🔥 That I may pour my spirits in thine ear
- 👁️ Your face, my thane, is as a book where men may read strange matters
- 💀 When you durst do it, then you were a man
- 🔪 I have given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me
- 🩶 Dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this
- 🛌 A little water clears us of this deed
- 🌘 These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad
- 🕯️ Out, damned spot! Out, I say!
- 🩸 Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?
- 🔄 What’s done cannot be undone
- 👻 The Thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now?
- 🧼 All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand
Famous Macbeth Quotes
📜 Iconic lines that are universally recognized and quoted.
- ⚰️ Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
- 🐍 Fair is foul, and foul is fair
- 💣 Is this a dagger which I see before me
- 👑 So foul and fair a day I have not seen
- 🕰️ Life’s but a walking shadow
- 🎭 Out, out, brief candle
- 🗣️ If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly
- 💡 Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires
- 👁️ There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face
- ⚡ By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes
- 🦉 The raven himself is hoarse
- 🎇 Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
- 🗡️ Blood will have blood
- 🔥 I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more
- 👑 Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
Macbeth Quotes About Power
👑 Lines that reveal Macbeth’s lust for control and dominance.
- 🧠 Thou wouldst be great; art not without ambition
- 🔪 I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent
- 💀 To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus
- 👻 There’s none but he whose being I do fear
- ⚔️ Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
- 🔥 Stars, hide your fires
- 🩸 I am in blood stepped in so far
- 👑 For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind
- 🕰️ The very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand
- 🗡️ I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked
- 🦁 The castle of Macduff I will surprise
- 🗣️ Give me the armour
- 🔥 Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care
- 🩶 Let no man born of woman harm Macbeth
- 🛡️ I bear a charmed life
Macbeth Quotes About Ambition
🚀 Ambition drives the tragedy, and these quotes reveal its dangerous force.
- 🔥 I have no spur but only vaulting ambition
- 🌌 Stars, hide your fires
- 💭 Let not light see my black and deep desires
- 🧠 Thou wouldst be great; art not without ambition
- 💡 If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me
- ⚔️ To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus
- 🩸 For mine own good all causes shall give way
- 🔪 I am in blood stepped in so far
- 👑 This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good
- 🦅 We have scorched the snake, not killed it
- 🛡️ Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill
- 🌘 Let every man be master of his time
- 🔥 The instruments of darkness tell us truths
- 🩶 My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical
- 🗣️ False face must hide what the false heart doth know
Lady Macbeth Quotes About Killing Duncan
💔 Her manipulation and emotional force come alive in these powerful lines.
- 🩸 Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell
- 🧠 That I may pour my spirits in thine ear
- 🔪 Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t
- 💀 When you durst do it, then you were a man
- 👁️ Screw your courage to the sticking-place
- 🩶 You shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch
- 🛌 A little water clears us of this deed
- 🌘 These deeds must not be thought after these ways
- 🕯️ My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white
- 👻 Consider it not so deeply
- 🧼 Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers
- 🩸 The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures
- 🔪 Go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand
- 🎭 Things without all remedy should be without regard
- 🛑 Leave all the rest to me
Important Macbeth Quotes
📘 These quotes are key for understanding the plot, characters, and themes of the play.
- 🩸 Is this a dagger which I see before me
- 🕯️ Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
- 👑 Fair is foul, and foul is fair
- 🧠 Yet do I fear thy nature
- 🔥 Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
- 💀 What’s done cannot be undone
- 🩶 All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand
- ⚔️ I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked
- 🕰️ Out, out, brief candle
- 👁️ There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face
- 🧼 A little water clears us of this deed
- 👻 The Thane of Fife had a wife
- 🩸 Blood will have blood
- 🔥 Be bloody, bold, and resolute
- 🗣️ If it were done when ’tis done
Macbeth Quotes About Guilt
😔 Guilt consumes both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. These lines reflect that inner torment.
- 🧠 Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more’
- 🩸 Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?
- 🛌 A little water clears us of this deed
- 🕯️ Out, damned spot! Out, I say!
- 💀 Here’s the smell of the blood still
- 🧼 All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand
- 👻 O full of scorpions is my mind
- 😔 My hands are of your color
- 🩶 What’s done cannot be undone
- 🧠 I am afraid to think what I have done
- 🌘 This is the very painting of your fear
- 🕰️ Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill
- 🔄 I am in blood stepped in so far
- 😵 The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures
- 🧱 Give me mine armour
Macbeth Quotes Act 1
📖 Key lines from the opening act that set the tone of the tragedy.
- 🌀 When shall we three meet again
- ⚡ Fair is foul, and foul is fair
- 👑 So foul and fair a day I have not seen
- 🧠 If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me
- 💡 Stars, hide your fires
- 🩸 Let not light see my black and deep desires
- 🔥 Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts
- 👁️ Look like the innocent flower
- 🗣️ Your face is a book
- 🛌 Leave all the rest to me
- 🔪 If it were done when ’tis done
- 🎭 He’s here in double trust
- 💀 I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent
- 🧼 False face must hide what the false heart doth know
- 🎇 Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
Conclusion
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a timeless exploration of human ambition, power, and guilt.
These curated quotes help you analyze key moments, understand character motivations, and deepen your grasp of the play’s dark brilliance.
If bstudying or teaching, this list offers a complete resource to uncover the most powerful lines in the tragedy.
