When we waver in a situation, we say "To do or not to do, to go or not to go, that is the question". In such sentences, we echo the line from "Hamlet", "To be or not to be; that is the question". Polonius's advice to his son Laertes contains lines which have become well known maxims: "Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice", "Neither a borrower nor a lender be", "The apparel oft proclaims the man" and "To thine own self be true".

Employees on strike insist on their "pound of flesh" when they unrelentingly press their demand. One's outstanding performance in one's area of activity or one's exceptional beauty "beggars description" ("Antony and Cleopatra"). The phrase "divided duty" ("Othello") is used to express conflict between loyalties or obligations. "Not that I love India less, but I love America more" said someone, echoing the line from "Julius Caesar", "Not that I love Caesar less, but I love Rome more".

Shakespeare's lines come in handy to convey deep reflections on life. The sense of emptiness, futility and frustration is expressed in Macbeth's words:

It is a tale told by an idiot
Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

The idea that human beings are playthings in the hands of Fate is brought out in "King Lear":

As flies to wanton boys
Are we to the Gods; they kill us for their sport.

In a philosophical mood, we quote Hamlet:

There is a special Providence in the fall of a sparrow.
There is a divinity that shapes our ends.

The evanescence and dreamlike unreality of mortal life are described in the passage from "The Tempest",

We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep. 

Traffic rules are "more honoured in the breach than in the observance". When too much fuss or noise is made about a trivial matter, we say, "Much ado about nothing", because we know that "All is well that ends well". Those who enjoy power and position know in their heart of hearts that "uneasy lies the head that wears the crown". A person beyond improvement or a situation beyond remedy is "past praying for". We would not like to break "time honoured" customs and traditions. Money is not the "be all and end all of life". We appreciate an artist who performs "like one to the manner born". Many expressions are modelled on "Out- Herod Herod". Writers and speakers would do well to remember the dictum, "Brevity is the soul of wit".

S. JAGADISAN