The most-quoted lines from the play, with a plain-English paraphrase, who said it and when, and a couple of sentences on why it matters. Filter by character, theme, or act — or scroll the lot.
Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.
Good is bad, and bad is good: We fly through the mist and dirty air.
All (Chorus) · Act 1, Scene 1
The three witches chant this paradox as they vanish into the mist after promising Macbeth the crown. It is the play's first and most crystalline statement of its moral universe—one where good and evil are inverted, where words lie, where prophecies are traps. Everything that follows is an unraveling of this single inversion.
When the hurlyburly’s done, When the battle’s lost and won.
When the confusion’s over, When the battle’s both lost and won.
Second Witch · Act 1, Scene 1
The second witch answers the first's question about when they will meet again, setting the play's machinery in motion: when the battle ends, they will meet Macbeth on the heath. The response is deceptively simple, but it establishes that the witches know the future and have already decided to intercept the newly victorious general. Their certainty suggests they are not random supernatural beings but agents pulling Macbeth toward his doom.
That trusted home Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Besides the thane of Cawdor. But ’tis strange: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s In deepest consequence. Cousins, a word, I pray you.
That trust in the future Might ignite your ambition for the crown, Along with the title of thane of Cawdor. But it’s strange: And often, to bring us to our own harm, The forces of darkness tell us truths, Entice us with small honest things, only to betray us In the most important ways. Cousins, a word, please.
Banquo · Act 1, Scene 3
Banquo, having heard the witches promise him kingship through his children, warns Macbeth that such prophecies may be designed to trap them rather than elevate them. Banquo sees the danger that Macbeth cannot — that the witches use truth as bait and trap ambition with its own desires. His caution makes him the play's moral voice and explains why he must be murdered to silence it.
Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
Stars, hide your lights; Don't let the light see my dark and deep desires: Let the eye close to what the hand does; yet let it happen, Whatever the eye fears, when it's done, to see.
Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 4
Macbeth speaks this alone after Duncan names Malcolm Prince of Cumberland, blocking Macbeth's path to the throne. In one devastating aside, he confesses that murder is already in his mind—not commanded by the witches, but kindled by ambition. He is asking the universe to hide what his heart already knows he will do.
There’s no art To find the mind’s construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust.
There’s no way To read a person’s mind by looking at their face: He was a man I trusted completely.
King Duncan · Act 1, Scene 4
Duncan, moments before welcoming Macbeth into his castle, admits that he cannot read men's faces or discern their true intentions. He states this weakness even as he is about to trust Macbeth completely, an irony that defines the play's opening tragedy. The line establishes that goodness and blindness are twins in this world, and that trust is the virtue that will destroy Duncan.
Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't.
Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't.
Lady Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 5
Lady Macbeth advises her husband on how to hide murder behind a welcoming smile. The line captures the play's obsession with the gap between appearance and reality, between what the face shows and what the heart intends. It is a blueprint for the kind of theatrical performance that Macbeth will attempt and fail at throughout the play.
Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty!
Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty!
Lady Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 5
Lady Macbeth reads her husband's letter and immediately calls on dark forces to strip her of her feminine nature so she can commit murder. She is the play's strongest character at this moment—more willing, more decisive than Macbeth. By the end, she will sleepwalk scrubbing invisible blood from her hands, having paid the price for that invocation.
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly: if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
If it could be done once and for all, then it would be better To do it quickly: if the murder Could block all consequences, and bring success With his death, if just this one blow Could end everything here,
Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 7
Before murdering Duncan, Macbeth rehearses reasons not to act—Duncan is his king, his kinsman, his host. Yet the speech reveals the fantasy that is driving him: that one killing will be enough, that it will have no echo, that it will end in satisfaction. The rest of the play is the discovery that murder never ends—it only multiplies.
I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?
I've done it. Didn't you hear something?
Macbeth · Act 2, Scene 2
Macbeth returns from Duncan's chamber having just murdered the king, and his first words are simple—the deed is done. What follows is a breakdown: he cannot pronounce Amen, his hand turns red, he sees all the ocean unable to wash away the blood. In this moment he has the throne, but he has lost the ability to enjoy or rest in it.
I hear a knocking At the south entry: retire we to our chamber; A little water clears us of this deed: How easy is it, then! Your constancy Hath left you unattended.
I hear knocking At the south door: let’s retreat to our room; A little water will wash away this crime: How easy it is, then! Your determination Has left you alone.
Lady Macbeth · Act 2, Scene 2
Lady Macbeth, moments after Duncan's murder, hears knocking at the castle gate and believes a little water will wash away their guilt. She is confident, even contemptuous of her husband's horror, and this certainty will prove catastrophic. The irony is absolute: by Act 5 she will be scrubbing imaginary blood from her hands, unable to cleanse what she was certain would wash away.
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?
Will all the ocean of Neptune wash this blood Clean from my hand?
Macbeth · Act 2, Scene 2
Immediately after the murder, Macbeth stares at his bloody hands and realizes the blood cannot be washed away—not by water, not by time. The image of blood as an indelible stain returns obsessively in the play. Lady Macbeth will later scrub her hands in her sleep, whispering that all the perfumes of Arabia cannot sweeten them.
Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promised, and, I fear, Thou play'dst most foully for't:
You've got it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, everything, Just like the weird sisters said, and, I'm afraid, You played very foully to get it:
Banquo · Act 3, Scene 1
Banquo, alone before the banquet, reflects that the witches' prophecy about Macbeth has come true—and that Macbeth achieved it through foul play. Though Banquo heard the same prophecies about his own children, he chose not to murder for them. His words hang in the air as a moral judgment, but also as a death sentence, since Macbeth will now move to murder him.
I am in blood Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er:
I'm so deep in blood That if I tried to stop, going back would be as hard as moving forward:
Macbeth · Act 3, Scene 4
After the murder of Banquo, Macbeth realizes he is trapped by his own violence. He cannot turn back because returning would be as exhausting as continuing forward. The image of wading through blood captures the play's central tragedy—that ambition, once fed with murder, must feed on murder again, or suffocate in guilt.
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Double, double, trouble and work; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
All (Chorus) · Act 4, Scene 1
The witches chant over their boiling cauldron as they prepare the magical brews that will summon the apparitions Macbeth demands. The line has become the signature incantation of witchcraft itself, repeated and parodied for four centuries. It captures the play's central engine: supernatural forces that speak in riddles and seem to grant wishes while actually leading their believers toward ruin.
Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth.
Be violent, brave, and determined; laugh at the power of men, because no one born of a woman will ever harm Macbeth.
Second Apparition · Act 4, Scene 1
The witches' second apparition gives Macbeth what seems like certain protection. Macbeth believes himself invulnerable and relaxes his guard, ordering the murder of Macduff's family. The irony—that Macduff was untimely ripped from his mother's womb—is the engine of the play's final tragedy, showing how our attempt to escape fate binds us to it.
Whither should I fly? I have done no harm. But I remember now I am in this earthly world; where to do harm Is often laudable, to do good sometime Accounted dangerous folly: why then, alas, Do I put up that womanly defence, To say I have done no harm?
Where should I go? I haven’t done anything wrong. But now I remember I live in this world, where doing harm Is often seen as good, while doing good can be Seen as foolish and dangerous: so then, oh no, Why do I keep defending myself, Saying I haven’t done anything wrong?
Lady Macduff · Act 4, Scene 2
Lady Macduff, abandoned by her husband without warning, realizes the cruelty of the world she lives in: goodness is punished and harm is rewarded, so her protestations of innocence are worthless. She strips away the comfortable assumption that virtue protects, seeing instead that in Macbeth's Scotland, innocence is merely another word for helplessness. Her insight comes moments before she and her children are slaughtered.
Why should I, mother? Poor birds they are not set for. My father is not dead, for all your saying.
Why should I, mother? Poor birds aren’t meant to be caught. My father isn’t dead, no matter what you say.
Son of Macduff · Act 4, Scene 2
Macduff's young son, responding to his mother's despair about their abandonment, argues that poor birds are not trapped and that his father cannot be dead because she has merely said so. His childish logic is both endearing and unbearably sad, since it trusts in a world of reason and safety that is about to be shattered. In moments, he will be killed by the murderers his mother saw entering.
Bleed, bleed, poor country! Great tyranny! lay thou thy basis sure, For goodness dare not cheque thee: wear thou thy wrongs; The title is affeer’d! Fare thee well, lord: I would not be the villain that thou think’st For the whole space that’s in the tyrant’s grasp, And the rich East to boot.
Bleed, bleed, poor country! Great tyranny, establish yourself firmly, For goodness won’t dare challenge you: wear your Wrongdoing; The title is secure! Farewell, my lord: I wouldn’t be the villain you think I am For all the land the tyrant controls, And the rich East too.
Macduff · Act 4, Scene 3
Macduff, learning that his wife and children have been murdered, transforms his grief into a vow of vengeance and refuses to be consoled with hopes of justice. He speaks of Scotland itself as a wound that cannot heal while Macbeth rules, making the tyrant's death a matter not of personal revenge but of the country's survival. His words bind his private loss to the nation's redemption.
What should he be?
Who could that be?
Macduff · Act 4, Scene 3
Macduff, asking Malcolm to describe the kind of man would succeed Macbeth as king, is asking what virtue looks like in their broken world. Malcolm responds by painting himself as a monster worse than Macbeth, testing whether Macduff will still support him — whether the desire for any change has become so desperate that virtue no longer matters. The question probes the cost of restoration.
Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
I still smell the blood. All the perfumes of Arabia won't make this little hand smell sweet.
Lady Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 1
Lady Macbeth's most heartbreaking line comes as she continues her sleepwalking soliloquy. She has moved beyond the practical concern of washing away evidence to the metaphysical horror that no perfume, no force in nature, can cleanse her. It is the inverse of her earlier confidence that a little water clears them of this deed.
Foul whisperings are abroad: unnatural deeds Do breed unnatural troubles: infected minds To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets: More needs she the divine than the physician. God, God forgive us all! Look after her; Remove from her the means of all annoyance, And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night: My mind she has mated, and amazed my sight. I think, but dare not speak.
Terrible rumors are spreading: unnatural actions Lead to unnatural problems: troubled minds Will spill their secrets to their pillows, which can’t hear them: She needs divine help more than a doctor. God, God forgive us all! Look after her; Take away anything that might hurt her, And keep watching her. So, good night: She’s troubled my mind and stunned my senses. I think I understand, but I’m too afraid to say it.
A Doctor of Physic · Act 5, Scene 1
The doctor, watching Lady Macbeth sleepwalk and confess murder in her sleep, names what the play has been showing: disorder breeds disorder, and the mind cannot be healed by medicine when it has been poisoned by action. His statement stands as the play's diagnosis — that unnatural deeds rupture nature itself and leave the guilty mind forever infected. It suggests that some crimes cannot be cured, only endured.
Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard?
Get out, damn spot! Get out, I say! One, two—well, it's time to do it. Hell is dark! Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afraid?
Lady Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 1
In her sleepwalking scene, Lady Macbeth tries to scrub invisible blood from her hands while reliving the murder of Duncan. The woman who called on spirits to unsex her and fill her with cruelty is now consumed by the horror of what she has done. The spot—the bloodstain—cannot be removed, and neither can the guilt it represents.
The time approaches That will with due decision make us know What we shall say we have and what we owe. Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate, But certain issue strokes must arbitrate: Towards which advance the war.
The time is coming That will make it clear what we’ve gained and what we owe. Speculative thoughts and uncertain hopes are unreliable, But the final outcome will decide everything: Let the war move forward.
Siward · Act 5, Scene 4
Siward, leading the English army toward Dunsinane, speaks of the moment when action will replace speculation and certainty will replace hope. He acknowledges that all the planning and hope in the world cannot tell the truth of what will happen — only battle itself will decide. The speech captures the play's sense that future events are hidden until they occur, and that all prophecy, however certain it sounds, may be equivocation.
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.
Life is just a walking shadow, a bad actor Who struts and worries on stage for an hour And then is heard no more: it's a story Told by an idiot, full of noise and anger, Meaning nothing.
Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 5
The continuation of Macbeth's great soliloquy after his wife's death reveals the ultimate cost of his ambition. He has the crown, but it has hollowed him of all feeling, all hope, all belief that life means anything. This is not the philosophical meditation of a wise man but the confession of someone who has murdered his way to everything and discovered it is nothing.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Crawls slowly along, day by day, Until the very end of time, And all our yesterdays have shown fools The way to a dusty death.
Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 5
After learning of Lady Macbeth's death, Macbeth delivers the play's darkest meditation on meaning itself. Time is meaningless, life is a shadow, all existence leads only to dust. It is not the speech of a man defeated in battle but of a man emptied of the capacity to feel anything—ambition has consumed him and left nothing in its place.
Despair thy charm; And let the angel whom thou still hast served Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb Untimely ripp'd.
Despair your charm; And let the angel you've served Tell you that Macduff was untimely ripped From his mother's womb.
Macduff · Act 5, Scene 8
At the climax, Macduff reveals to Macbeth that he was not born of woman in the natural sense—he was delivered by cesarean section. The witches' prophecy, which seemed to protect Macbeth absolutely, collapses into riddle. Macbeth's attempt to escape fate by understanding the prophecy has only driven him toward the very doom he sought to avoid.
Hail, king! for so thou art: behold, where stands The usurper’s cursed head: the time is free: I see thee compass’d with thy kingdom’s pearl, That speak my salutation in their minds; Whose voices I desire aloud with mine: Hail, King of Scotland!
Hail, king! Because that’s what you are: look, here’s The usurper’s cursed head: the time is free: I see you surrounded by the jewels of your kingdom, Who express my greetings in their hearts; Whose voices I want to hear aloud with mine: Hail, King of Scotland!
Macduff · Act 5, Scene 8
Macduff, holding Macbeth's severed head aloft, proclaims Malcolm king and the time restored to freedom — the triumphant conclusion of the revenge plot. Yet the moment is complicated by Macduff's own destroyed family, his vengeance purchased at an intimate cost that no public restoration can heal. His words crown the new king while his heart remains in the grave with his murdered children.
Hail, King of Scotland!
Hail, King of Scotland!
All (Chorus) · Act 5, Scene 8
The entire Scottish army salutes Malcolm as the rightful king, moments after Macduff has brought Macbeth's severed head onto the stage. The moment crystallizes the arc from tyranny restored to order — the commonwealth's voice speaking in unison, confirming what the witches' riddles had obscured. It tells us that the play's deep concern is not individual ambition but the health of the state itself.
Why then, God’s soldier be he! Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish them to a fairer death: And so, his knell is knoll’d.
Then, God’s soldier he is! If I had as many sons as I have hairs, I wouldn’t wish them to die any nobler death: And so, his death knell is tolled.
Siward · Act 5, Scene 8
Old Siward, learning that his son has died in battle facing Macbeth, receives the news that the young man fell to the front and died nobly — a soldier's death. Rather than grieve, Siward declares his satisfaction, saying he would wish no fairer end for any child, and moves on to the business of crowning the new king. His cold acceptance reframes death in battle as not a loss but a completion, a father's stoic embrace of his son's fate.
