Vol. 08 · Shakespeare ·Hamlet, Act II.ii ·Hamlet
"I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space."
Not quite the line.
How it's usually quoted
"I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space."
What Shakespeare actually wrote
"O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." Hamlet — Hamlet, Act II.ii
Why it matters
The "bad dreams" coda is the whole point — imagination frees you except when nightmares recolonise it. Pop quotation keeps the optimism and drops the horror.
More from the canon.
Browse the rest of the shelf, or try a cold reading.