Actually, Shakespeare.
Page 3 of 3 — more lines everyone can quote, with what Shakespeare actually wrote.
- "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.""We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; / For he to-day that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother."King Henry V — Henry V, IV.iii
What changes The St Crispin's Day speech peaks with the three-beat opening. Quoting it alone makes "band of brothers" sound like a title; Shakespeare wrote it as the start of a longer promise.
- "What a piece of work is man!""What a piece of work is a man!"Hamlet — Hamlet, II.ii
What changes The Folio keeps the article "a." Many 20th-century printings dropped it for snappiness — you hear this most in the "Hair" musical setting, which re-set the line.
- "What fools these mortals be!""Lord, what fools these mortals be!"Puck — A Midsummer Night's Dream, III.ii
What changes The "Lord" is an exclamation, not an address — Puck is amused, not praying. Without it, the line reads colder than Shakespeare wrote it.
- "What light through yonder window breaks?""But soft! what light through yonder window breaks?"Romeo — Romeo and Juliet, II.ii
What changes "But soft!" is the stage direction written in — Romeo shushes himself as Juliet appears. Dropping it loses the hush, the moment of noticing, that opens the balcony scene.
- "What's done is done.""What's done cannot be undone."Lady Macbeth — Macbeth, V.i
What changes Shakespeare wrote both lines in Macbeth — "what's done is done" (III.ii, confident) and "what's done cannot be undone" (V.i, sleepwalking). They get merged.
- "When shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning, or in rain?""When shall we three meet again? / In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"First Witch — Macbeth, I.i
What changes The punctuation matters — Shakespeare wrote two questions, not one. Runs the lines together and it sounds like a weather forecast; separates them and it is a ritual call and response.
- "When sorrows come, they come in battalions.""When sorrows come, they come not single spies, / But in battalions."Claudius — Hamlet, IV.v
What changes The "single spies" half is the setup — sorrows arrive not as scouts but as whole armies. Cutting it loses the extended military metaphor.
- "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?""O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"Juliet — Romeo and Juliet, II.ii
What changes "Wherefore" means "why," not "where." Juliet isn't looking for him; she's asking why he has to be a Montague. Modern film adaptations routinely stage her looking around.