9 Motivational Shakespeare Quotes for Your Planner + Bonus Quotes

To celebrate “Talk Like Shakespeare Day” on April 23rd, the April Instagram Challenge consisted of a few favorite Shakespeare quotes. Who knew that Shakespeare was also a motivational speaker? Woven into his tragedies and comedies, you find snippets of inspiration for every day – find a few of my favorite Motivational Shakespeare Quotes + some of my other favorites below.

I know I’m not the only quote geek in the planner world, so I wanted to share a few of the motivational quotes I revisited recently. It’s fun to use quotes in your planner or for practice if you’re working on penmanship or learning how to letter. That’s what I did in April!

P.S. I made printables for every quote – check them out in my shop!

Add Quotes for Motivation & Handlettering Practice

I find that adding quotes to my planner reminds me to slow down and remember what’s important to me. A bonus is practicing my lettering!

Throughout April, I used many of these quotes to develop my pointed pen techniques. If you’re just getting into the world of lettering, a pointed pen is usually a pen with a removable tip called a nib that you dip in ink. Similar to what they did in the times of Shakespeare. Comparable to brush pens, you can get beautiful thick and thin lines.

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I feel that writing with a pointed pen is so therapeutic. Some people love the sound of a scratchy nib on paper as they write. What I love is the way the page feels after I write and the ink is dry. The dried ink leaves a raised texture on the paper. And I love it.

I prefer an oblique pen to a straight pen with a nib. (See ‘forever and a day’ picture above.) All I have is a simple one, right now. I’d love to buy a fancy one someday soon. Once you get the hang of pressing down for thick lines and lifting for thin lines, the words become mesmerizing. When I created the Mother Theresa Printable a few months ago, I kept blobbing the ink on the first two lines. After I got past those lines, I was finally able to write the entire thing, and it was so incredibly satisfying!

Sometimes it takes several tries to get it the way you want it. As you can see above, it took me quite a few tries to write “to thine own self be true” with a glass nib pen. Learning & messing up is just part of the process.

Pointed Pen vs. Brush Pens

I find that the technique for using a pointed pen translates back and forth for brush pens and pointed pens. You press harder when you want a thick stroke, and use the tip of the pen/nib for thin strokes. If you need some fantastic quotes to try with your brush pens or pointed pen, try some Shakespeare.

Everything feels fancier when you write Shakespeare’s words. ~Tricia @ Chocolate Musings. In case you’re wondering, that’s an original quote by me. You could put that in your planner too if you wanted.

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Here are a few Motivational Shakespeare Quotes to include in your planner:

All That Glitters is Not Gold. – The Merchant of Venice

Be not afraid of greatness. (You could end it right there if you wanted – but it continues)

Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. – Twelfth Night

Nothing will come of nothing. – King Lear

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This above all: To thine own self be true. – Hamlet

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. – All’s Well That Ends Well

No legacy is so rich as honesty. – All’s Well That Ends Well

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. – Julis Caesar

Be great in act, as you have been in thought. – King John

We know who we are, but know not what we may be. – Hamlet

All of these quotes remind me to pursue amazing things in my life, but the last one is a distinct reminder never to forget where I genuinely want to go and not to sell myself short. Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below! I’d also love to hear if you have a different favorite quote!

Bonus Quotes

I couldn’t stop there. Some of my favorite Shakespeare quotes wouldn’t classify as motivational, but some words speak powerfully to me, and I want to share them with you.

• Forever and a day. – Taming of the Shrew (I added a twist to this one, too)
• The course of true love never did run smooth. – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• If music be the food of love, play on. The Twelfth Night
• What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. – Romeo and Juliet
• They do not love that do not show their love. – Gentlemen of Verona

I want to paint the quote ‘forever and a day’ above my bed on my wall. Not now, but when we move. I’m secretly making plans for the new house we will eventually buy, and collecting quotes is definitely part of that plan! I think instead of just saying ‘forever and a day’ I would paint “I will love you forever and a day.”

Which ones would you include in your planner or on your wall?

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