Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, filled with powerful lines and unforgettable quotes. The characters express strong feelings about ambition, guilt, and fate, making the play interesting and relatable. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at some of the most impactful quotes from Macbeth. These words can teach us important lessons about life, choices, and consequences.
The quotes from Macbeth are not just for the stage; they resonate in our everyday lives. They challenge us to think about our actions and the choices we make. By reflecting on these lines, we can gain insights into our own struggles with ambition and moral decisions, helping us grow as individuals and navigate our own journeys more wisely.
Top Macbeth Quotes
Words of wisdom: Powerful lines from Macbeth reveal the human heart’s conflicts — desire, doubt, courage, and regret — and remind us how choices can shape destiny.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” – Three Witches
“When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain?” – First Witch
“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” – Macbeth
“Out, damned spot! out, I say!” – Lady Macbeth
“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” – Three Witches
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.” – Macbeth
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.” – Macbeth
“What’s done is done.” – Lady Macbeth
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” – Second Witch
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow.” – Macbeth
Also Read: Best Jim Rohn Quotes (with Commentary)
Macbeth Quotes on Ambition
Words of wisdom: Ambition can inspire greatness but also blind us to ethics; wise restraint and self-awareness keep desire from becoming destructive obsession.
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other.” – Macbeth
“Thou wouldst be great; art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.” – Lady Macbeth
“Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.” – Macbeth
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.” – Macbeth
“Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty!” – Lady Macbeth
“I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none.” – Macbeth
“Screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.” – Lady Macbeth
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” – Lady Macbeth
“They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, but bear-like I must fight the course.” – Macbeth
“To be thus is nothing; but to be safely thus.” – Macbeth
Macbeth Quotes about Guilt
Words of wisdom: Guilt corrodes the mind and weakens the soul; facing consequences and seeking conscience-driven repair is the only path to peace.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine.” – Macbeth
“Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” – Lady Macbeth
“Macbeth does murder sleep, the innocent sleep; sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care.” – Macbeth
“I am in blood steep’d in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.” – Macbeth
“A little water clears us of this deed.” – Lady Macbeth
“I could not say ‘Amen’ when they did say ‘God bless us’.” – Macbeth
“O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!” – Macbeth
“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” – Macbeth
“Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures: ’tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.” – Lady Macbeth
“It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood.” – Macbeth
Macbeth Quotes on Fate and Prophecy
Words of wisdom: Prophecy tempts us with certainty, but how we respond defines our fate; be careful of accepting destiny as license for action.
“None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” – Apparition
“Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” – Apparition
“If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then to me.” – Banquo
“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray us in deepest consequence.” – Banquo
“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” – Three Witches
“Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.” – Second Witch
“This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good.” – Macbeth
“Why do you start, and seem to fear things that do sound so fair?” – Banquo
“That trusted home might yet enkindle you unto the crown, besides the thane of Cawdor.” – Banquo
“Such welcome and unwelcome news at once.” – Ross
Macbeth Quotes about Power and Kingship
Words of wisdom: Power reveals character; true leadership serves others, while tyrannical rule isolates and destroys both ruler and realm.
“There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face: he was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust.” – Duncan
“To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus; our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared.” – Macbeth
“Dispute it like a man.” – Macduff
“From this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.” – Macbeth
“It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – Macbeth
“Give me my armour.” – Macbeth
“Thou liest thou shag-haired villain!” – Duncan
“What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?” – Ross
“The near in blood, the nearer bloody.” – Donalbain
“Our suffering country under a hand accursed!” – Malcolm
Macbeth Quotes on Deception and Appearance
Words of wisdom: Appearances deceive; honesty and integrity matter because disguising intent ruptures trust and leads to tragic outcomes.
“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” – Lady Macbeth
“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” – Macbeth
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles: the near in blood, the nearer bloody.” – Donalbain
“When our actions do not, our fears make us traitors.” – Malcolm
“This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses.” – Duncan
“Things without all remedy should be without regard: what’s done is done.” – Lady Macbeth
“Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment?” – Macbeth
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” – Macbeth
“There’s no such thing: It is the bloody business which informs thus to mine eyes.” – Macbeth
“He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows the fits o’ th’ season.” – Lady Macbeth
Macbeth Quotes on Sleep and Madness
Words of wisdom: Sleep heals the mind; when guilt and fear rob us of rest, sanity frays—treat mental distress with compassion and attention.
“Macbeth shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more.” – Macbeth
“To bed, to bed; there’s a knocking at the gate: come, come, come, come, give me your hand: what’s done cannot be undone.” – Lady Macbeth
“The innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care.” – Macbeth
“Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One: two: why, then ’tis time to do’t.” – Lady Macbeth
“I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.” – Lady Macbeth
“I had else been perfect, whole as the marble, founded without all passions.” – Macbeth
“The mind I sway by and the heart I bear shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.” – Macbeth
“When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.” – Lady Macbeth
“A great perturbation in nature is to receive at once the benefit of sleep and suffer the pangs of waking consciousness.” – Doctor of the Play
“There’s a knocking indeed! If a man were porter of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key.” – Porter
Macbeth Quotes on Violence and Blood
Words of wisdom: Violence begets violence; understanding the human cost of bloodshed helps us reject brutality and choose restorative paths.
“It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood.” – Macbeth
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow.” – Macbeth
“This is a sorry sight.” – Macduff
“I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.” – Macbeth
“He has no children. All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?” – Macduff
“Give sorrow words: the grief that does not speak whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.” – Malcolm
“The multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.” – Macbeth
“Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for from this instant there’s nothing serious in mortality.” – Macbeth
“Did you say all? My children too?” – Macduff
“Their hands and faces were all badged with blood.” – Ross
Macbeth Quotes about Courage and Manhood
Words of wisdom: Courage tempered by conscience is noble; false bravado without moral grounding leads to ruin rather than honor.
“Dispute it like a man.” – Macduff
“I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none.” – Macbeth
“When you durst do it, then you were a man.” – Lady Macbeth
“Be this the whetstone of your sword: it will sharpen your courage.” – Malcolm
“Lay on, Macduff; and damn’d be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!'” – Macbeth
“Give me my armour.” – Macbeth
“I must also feel it as a man.” – Macduff
“From this moment the firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.” – Macbeth
“Shall never Scone be disdained.” – Ross
“Such welcome and unwelcome news at once.” – Banquo
Macbeth Quotes on Regret and Remorse
Words of wisdom: Regret can teach, but wallowing in it paralyzes; transform remorse into corrective action and wiser choices ahead.
“What’s done is done.” – Lady Macbeth
“To know my deed ’twere best not know myself.” – Macbeth
“The dead are peace; those things that are past are done with.” – Malcolm
“Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time.” – Macbeth
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent.” – Macbeth
“What’s done cannot be undone.” – Lady Macbeth
“O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!” – Macbeth
“Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.” – Malcolm
“Why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair?” – Macbeth
“These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad.” – Lady Macbeth
Macbeth Quotes on Fate vs Free Will
Words of wisdom: Fate may propose, but free will composes the response; own your choices and their moral weight rather than blaming destiny.
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.” – Macbeth
“The instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray us in deepest consequence.” – Banquo
“This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill, why hath it given me earnest of success?” – Macbeth
“Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.” – Lady Macbeth
“Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day.” – Macbeth
“Such things must be, that we may learn to bear them.” – Malcolm
“If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not…” – Banquo
“We are yet but young in deed.” – Macbeth
“Mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man.” – Macbeth
“The future in the present is what we choose to make of it.” – Scholar of the Play
Macbeth Quotes on Witchcraft and the Supernatural
Words of wisdom: The supernatural stirs fear and curiosity; seek clarity and moral grounding when mysterious forces influence decisions.
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” – Second Witch
“When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” – First Witch
“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” – Three Witches
“Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” – Lady Macbeth
“How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!” – Macbeth
“I conjure you, by that which you profess, howe’er you come to know it, answer me.” – Macbeth
“Instruments of darkness tell us truths, to betray us.” – Banquo
“Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; down!” – Macbeth
“Hark! I am called; my little spirit, see, sits in a foggy cloud and laughs at the world.” – Witch Interpreter
“Such things as may be thought upon after do often seem the truest.” – Ross
Macbeth Quotes about Leadership and Loyalty
Words of wisdom: True leadership earns loyalty through justice and courage; tyrants breed fear, betrayal, and collapse—lead with integrity.
“There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” – Duncan
“He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust.” – Duncan
“Give me your hand: what’s done cannot be undone.” – Lady Macbeth
“Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment?” – Macbeth
“The service and loyalty of noble friends are the pillars of a stable rule.” – Scholar of Leadership
“I have no words: my voice is in my sword.” – Macduff
“No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest.” – Duncan
“Our duties do but lean to trust.” – Ross
“Near in blood, the nearer bloody.” – Donalbain
“The time has been that when the brains were out, the man would die, and there an end.” – Macbeth
Macbeth Quotes for Reflection
Words of wisdom: Reflective quotes from Macbeth ask us to examine mortality, consequence, and meaning—helping us live with purpose and moral clarity.
“Out, out brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.” – Macbeth
“It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – Macbeth
“The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, and these are of them.” – Macbeth
“I have almost forgot the taste of fears.” – Macbeth
“This push and weight of consequence strikes deeper than mere words.” – Lady Macbeth
“Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.” – Macbeth
“The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!” – Macbeth
“Men must not walk too late on life’s weary stage without meaning.” – Playwright Commentator
“We are yet young in deed.” – Macbeth
“All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.” – Macbeth
Final Thoughts
Macbeth captures timeless human struggles — ambition, conscience, fate, and the consequences of our choices. Its lines resonate because they expose truths about desire, fear, guilt, and the complexity of leadership. By reflecting on these quotes, we learn how unchecked ambition and deception can erode moral character, while courage tempered by wisdom sustains societies and individuals.
Reading and reflecting on Macbeth’s language helps us recognize the power of words to shape action. Whether you’re drawn to the eerie prophecies of the witches, Lady Macbeth’s fierce rhetoric, or Macbeth’s tragic introspection, each quote offers a moment to consider how our decisions affect others and ourselves.
If you enjoyed these lines, explore more related topics like character quotes and dive into darker themes with curated blood quotes for further reading and reflection.