Vol. 08 · Shakespeare ·Hamlet, Act III.i ·Hamlet
"To be, or not to be — that is the question."
Not quite the line.
How it's usually quoted
"To be, or not to be — that is the question."
What Shakespeare actually wrote
"To be, or not to be, that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…" Hamlet — Hamlet, Act III.i
Why it matters
The short form is correctly quoted — but the popular read is wrong. "The question" isn't whether to exist; it's whether to endure or to fight.
More from the canon.
Browse the rest of the shelf, or try a cold reading.