50 Quotes by Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was a trailblazing dramatist and poet of the Elizabethan era, whose works proved instrumental in shaping the course of English literature. Often considered a contemporary and rival of William Shakespeare, Marlowe is best known for his blank verse plays, such as "Doctor Faustus," "Tamburlaine the Great," and "Edward II." His exceptional talent for crafting powerful and ambitious protagonists, his exploration of complex moral dilemmas, and his revolutionary use of blank verse revolutionized the theatrical landscape of his time.
Marlowe's contributions to the development of English drama went beyond his own works, as he paved the way for the flourishing of Renaissance drama and influenced generations of playwrights to come. Unfortunately, Marlowe's life was cut tragically short at the age of 29 when he was killed under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a body of work that continues to captivate audiences and inspire scholars to this day. As a key figure in the cultural and literary renaissance of the late 16th century, Christopher Marlowe's legacy endures as an essential cornerstone of English literary history.
Christopher Marlowe Quotes
You must be proud, bold, pleasant, resolute, And now and then stab, as occasion serves.
All live to die, and rise to fall.
Nature that framed us of four elements, Warring within our breasts for regiment, Doth teach us all to have aspiring minds: Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend The wondrous architecture of the world, And measure every wandering planet's course, Still climbing after knowledge infinite, And always moving as the restless spheres, Wills us to wear ourselves, and never rest, Until we reach the ripest fruit of all, That perfect bliss and sole felicity, The sweet fruition of an earthly crown.
Above our life we love a steadfast friend.
There is no sin but ignorance.
O, thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars.
All places are alike, and every earth is fit for burial.
Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?
Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ileum?
Make me immortal with a kiss.
Had I as many souls as there be stars, I'd give them all for Mephistopheles!
Fornication: but that was in another country; And besides, the wench is dead.
Things that are not at all, are never lost.
What feeds me destroys me.
It lies not in our power to love or hate, for will in us is overruled by fate.
We control fifty percent of a relationship. We influence one hundred percent of it.
Faustus: Stay, Mephistopheles, and tell me, what good will my soul do thy lord? Mephistopheles: Enlarge his kingdom. Faustus: Is that the reason he tempts us thus? Mephistopheles: Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris. (It is a comfort to the wretched to have companions in misery)
What are kings, when regiment is gone, but perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
Why should you love him whom the world hates so? Because he love me more than all the world.
He must have a long spoon that eats with the devil.
It is a comfort to the miserable to have comrades in misfortune, but it is a poor comfort after all.
When all the world dissolves, And every creature shall be purified, All places shall be hell that are not heaven.
Till swollen with cunning, of a self-conceit, His waxen wings did mount above his reach, And, melting, Heavens conspir'd his overthrow.
Nothing violent, oft have I heard tell, can be permanent.
Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed In one self place, for where we are is hell, And where hell is there must we ever be.
Lone women, like to empty houses, perish.
Fools that will laugh on earth, most weep in hell.
Live and die in Aristotle's works.
More childish valorous than manly wise.
That perfect bliss and sole felicity, the sweet fruition of an earthly crown.
Love me little, love me long.
I count religion but a childish toy, and hold there is no sin but ignorance.
While money doesn't buy love, it puts you in a great bargaining position.
The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike
Excess of wealth is cause of covetousness.
Strike up the drum and march courageously.
Jigging veins of rhyming mother wits.
Goodness is beauty in the best estate.
Virtue is the fount whence honour springs.
I'm armed with more than complete steel, - The justice of my quarrel.
You stars that reigned at my nativity, whose influence hath allotted death and hell.
Is it not passing brave to be a King and ride in triumph through Persepolis?
Confess and be hanged.
Our swords shall play the orators for us.
Infinite riches in a little room.
All places shall be hell that are not heaven.
If we say that we have no sin, We deceive ourselves, and there's no truth in us. Why then belike we must sin, And so consequently die. Ay, we must die an everlasting death.
What art thou Faustus, but a man condemned to die?
He that loves pleasure must for pleasure fall.
Religion hides many mischiefs from suspicion.
The griefs of private men are soon allayed, But not of kings.
Virginity, albeit some highly prize it, Compared with marriage, had you tried them both, Differs as much as wine and water doth.
Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burned is Apollo's laurel bough, That sometime grew within this learned man. Faustus is gone.
Blood is the god of war's rich livery.
― Christopher Marlowe Quotes
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