Vol. 08 · Shakespeare ·Twelfth Night, Act I.i ·Orsino
"If music be the food of love, play on."
Not quite the line.
How it's usually quoted
"If music be the food of love, play on."
What Shakespeare actually wrote
"If music be the food of love, play on; / Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken, and so die." Orsino — Twelfth Night, Act I.i
Why it matters
The famous first line sounds romantic. The full passage is about being so gorged on love that you go off it — the opposite of the sentimental reading.
More from the canon.
Browse the rest of the shelf, or try a cold reading.