What a piece of work

Shakespeare was not only the greatest poet who ever lived; he had more direct influence on the English language than any other single person in history. We owe an amazing number of commonly used words and idiomatic expressions to his pen.

If you have never read Hamlet - and if you haven't, you should - you'll be amazed at how many lines are already familiar to you.

Idioms and expressions first coined in Hamlet:

In my mind's eye

Foul play

Murder most foul

Far gone

Method to his madness ("Though this be madness, yet there is method in it")

What a piece of work

In my heart of heart

It smells to heaven

Cruel to be kind

Hoised with his own petard


Famous dramatic lines from Hamlet:

Neither a borrower nor a lender be

To thine own self be true

Brevity is the soul of wit

The play's the thing

To be or not to be

Get thee to a nunnery

The lady doth protest too much, methinks

Alas, poor Yorick

A hit, a very palpable hit

Good night, sweet prince

Oftentimes a classic work of literature has one famous line that everybody knows, e.g. "Call me Ishmael," or "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Hamlet has at least ten such lines - and it's only 100 pages long! Is there any other work of such short length that has made so many lasting contributions to our language?