William Shakespeare
1564–1616
Google searches: 7.4 million+ per month
Number of books: c. 1 million
The man with the lion’s share of the percentage of votes for greatest writer
in English or language in human history is sure to be the source for
quite a few words and phrases now common in his native language. A good 50% of common
English phrases come from the King James Bible, and
possibly 30% of the rest come from the Bard. If you’ve ever said, “It’s all
Greek to me;” “food for the gods;” “all that glitters is not gold;” “a sorry
sight;” “dead as a doornail;” “come what may;” “with one fell swoop;” or
“all’s well that ends well;” then “by Jove” you’re quoting Shakespeare.
Egil Aarvik, of the Committee for the Nobel Prize, once said that
Shakespeare would have been the only person in history to win more
than one prize for his literature. There is no rule against this, and had
he lived into the 20th Century, his plays would have certainly deserved
one, but his sonnets alone are worth the bodies of work for which other laureates have been
honored. What is the most famous quote in all of
English literature? Probably “to be or not to be.”What’s most impressive
about his fame is that we know very little at all about Shakespeare himself,
the man and his life. He only had a grammar school education and worked
as an actor before becoming a playwright. What makes Shakespeare so
great is his seamless blend of the finest poetry, profound, multifaceted philosophy, and a
lively wit. Do it one time and you’ll win quite a few
awards and be thought a great writer. Shakespeare did it 37 times, and
that doesn’t account for his 154 sonnets, the bulk of the English repertory. Hamlet and King
Lear are universally acclaimed masterpieces, benchmarks against which all other drama, before
and after, is judged.
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