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Laertes
Hamlet’s closest friend and most trusted confidant. Horatio wants to help Hamlet get to the root of his father’s loss and take vengeance upon his murderer, but as Hamlet descends into inaction, volatility, and apparent madness, Horatio worries that Hamlet is getting in too deep and tries to warn his friend against risking his reputation and safety. Horatio urges Hamlet not to go through with the duel against Laertes, a warning that proves to be legitimate in the end, as Laertes’s plot with Claudius ends up killing Hamlet along with Gertrude and Laertes and Claudius themselves. While Hamlet is dying after Laertes stabs him with a poisoned sword, Horatio contemplates committing suicide by drinking from the same cup of poisoned wine Hamlet used to kill Claudius, demonstrating the deep loyalty he feels for Hamlet and his despair over losing his friend. However, Hamlet prevents Horatio from doing so, urging him to live on and share the truth of Hamlet’s story with the world.
Horatio Quotes in Hamlet
The Hamlet quotes below are all either spoken by Horatio or refer to Horatio. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Scene 2
Quotes
Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.
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Act 1, Scene 4
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Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
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Act 1, Scene 5
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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
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Act 5, Scene 1
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Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio—a fellow of infinite jest… Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar?
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Act 5, Scene 2
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We defy augury. There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.
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Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
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Horatio Quotes in Hamlet
The Hamlet quotes below are all either spoken by Horatio or refer to Horatio. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Scene 2
Quotes
Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, Scene 4
Quotes
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
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Act 1, Scene 5
Quotes
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, Scene 1
Quotes
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio—a fellow of infinite jest… Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar?
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Act 5, Scene 2
Quotes
We defy augury. There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.
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Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
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