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What Nnamdi Kanu told us in prison
We’ve been active on a couple of communication platforms in which we are essentially ceding leadership to a group of people in their late 20s and 30s, some of whom are in the US coordinating activities nationwide and around the world. That has resulted in a number of leadership initiatives in which issues, political, economic and social, have been advanced and canvassed, and matters of education, industrialisation and all of those have been in the offing. Among the issues that have come out of such discussions are those that are central to the new Igbo essence, to uplift and uphold the dignity of every Igbo man and engage stoutly to make sure nobody abuses and takes the Igbo person for granted anywhere in the world. So, one of the test cases obviously, which was staring us in the face, was the case of the incarceration ultra vires the rule of law. Of course, there was an imperative of engagement. As part of worldwide consultations, we were asked by this group to pay a courtesy call and get the point of view of the gentleman (Kanu) himself, and after that, to express views to the world. And that was what happened yesterday (Tuesday). (What Nnamdi Kanu told us in prison)


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For how long has Nzuko Umunna existed as a formal entity?

In some ways, it is a migration from several groups and platforms. There is, for example, what is called the Igbo Intelligential Forum. There are several other groups, like the Think Tank, Aka Ikenga, all of these. Because values were central to redeeming the Igbo nation, people of strong values were literally handpicked from various other groups to form this kind of body. In this particular form, it has been in existence for perhaps a little less than a year or about a year. But it still has reference into some of the other groups and platforms. (What Nnamdi Kanu told us in prison)


Who are the executive members and the overall leader of the group?

There is a steering group from the US. There are people in Nigeria who are also (steering). There is a board of trustees, in which I am active. But as I said, the essential leadership was given to the 20- and 30-year-olds, who are typically intellectuals but they are youngand more active. The person playing a steering role in this group from Texas used to be an assistant of mine a couple of years ago. He is currently a PhD candidate in the US. His name is Joseph Oduomoko. (What Nnamdi Kanu told us in prison)

How many of you went to visit Kanu in Kuje Prison?

There were many people who wanted to go but we had to keep it trimmed. We were about 14, if I recall correctly. We had interesting conversations with him. We asked him to tell us what his perspectives were on things, to share on his current incarceration experience, and that was a useful conversation. It helped give us an insight into his consciousness because really, the group (IPOB) is a consciousness movement. If you remember Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa, this group is (also) an Igbo renaissance consciousness movement.

Can you share some of the things he told you?

We discussed the state of the country and perceptions of levels of justice in the country and why the economy is challenged: because of policies of exclusion. We discussed what we generally called the democratisation of discontent in Nigeria. That is to say there seems to be unhappiness about Nigeria everywhere around Nigeria, and therefore, the need to change course for the country. The whole idea is to create a platform for continuing conversation, to harmonise the views of different people about what the most appropriate solution is to this challenge of malcontent.

What are Kanu’s perspectives on these things you discussed?


I don’t think it is fair to be his spokesperson. He can represent himself and speak for himself. What I took away from the meeting is that he is a very intelligent person. He clearly is not mad. He’s very strategic and focused.

What did you notice about the conditions in which he is being kept?

He seemed quite calm and relaxed. There is a meeting area; he came to the meeting area. We didn’t go to into the cell. We did not discuss food and stuff like that. But I think the prison staff and wardens were very polite and professional. That was good.

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The Federal Government has accused him of treasonable and inciting acts. Do you think it is fair to call Kanu a felon and a threat to national security?

From my perspective, certainly not. Freedom of expression does not constitute threat to national security, especially when you have the right to reply. The Americans have a doctrine on freedom of expression and I have been privileged to be on the US International Visitor Programme that was focused particularly on freedom of expression.

Among those that participated in that programme with me were Senator Shehu Sani and Hon. Abike Dabiri. Part of the convention on freedom of expression is, “Let a thousand flowers bloom, if there is a lie being told, enough truth will suffocate the life in the marketplace of ideas.” I think that is a very healthy way to look at expression because the converse to restrict or prevent expression drives down people’s ideas into silos with more threatening future consequences.

So, I think that there are enough outlets for a different perspective offered by any citizen that the rule of law and the ideas of freedom of expression are much more important in the order of what is good or bad for society than repressive prevention of expression. (What Nnamdi Kanu told us in prison)

In your meeting with Kanu, was there any discussion of him setting aside his pro-Biafra agitation in exchange for his release?

To start with, two courts of competent jurisdiction have tried him. One gave him a bail because he did not find the matter to be of high treason, obviously. If it was high treason, he (the judge) wouldn’t give him a bail. The second completely discharged and acquitted him, calling for his immediate release. Surely, not doing so is to do damage to the concept of the rule of law. And where the rule of law is assaulted, when impunity reigns — because this is the reason we (All Progressives Congress) ran against the Peoples Democratic Party; we argued that they were a party of impunity. It would be inappropriate for us to become a party of impunity. So, the law is there and courts of competent jurisdiction have asked for his release. I think that it is inappropriate to continue to hold a person like that. And I think it is even more inappropriate to ask a person to submit to a denial of his freedom, to express himself in the future as basis for giving him his freedom, which is what, ‘Promise that you can’t talk again, so we can let you go,’ amounts to. One of the most important factors in the development and human prosperity is when institutions have their legitimacy challenged by impunity or by refusing to obey law, for example. That brings greater harm to the rest of society than whatever may be dysfunctional about allowing a person to express views that you are not happy with. (What Nnamdi Kanu told us in prison)


How do you think Kanu’s detention will affect the Igbo in the 2019 presidential elections?

I am not a soothsayer. It is not my place to speculate on presidential elections. It is just my place as a citizen to exercise citizenship behaviour and point to the fact that abuse of the rule of law jeopardises my freedom because I could be the next victim. That’s all. (What Nnamdi Kanu told us in prison)

Are you in support of Biafra?

I don’t know what that means. I don’t think you have met anyone who is more Nigerian than me, both in my upbringing and the things that I have said. If you want to evaluate, you just go back to my history and read, and find out if you or anybody you know is more Nigerian than I have been. I was born in Kaduna (State). I was baptised in Jos (Plateau State). I lived in Maiduguri (Borno State) as an infant. I started school in Kano (State); the bulk of my primary education was in Gusau, now in Zamfara State. I started secondary school in Onitsha (Anambra State). Then I had the bulk of my secondary education in Loyola College Ibadan. I attended the University of Nigeria (Nsukka, Enugu State). If you check my history, one of the things I am accused of is that I am more Yoruba than anything else. So, I think that you don’t need to ask me a question about that.

How do you think Kanu’s continued detention could affect Biafra agitations going forward?

There is a book that was published last year and at the presentation of that book, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar called for a restructuring of Nigeria. The title of that book written by Chido Onumah is We Are All Biafrans. Now, Biafra is used in that title as a metaphor to suggest that across the board in Nigeria, people feel this great discontent. In effect, all Nigerians literally have become Biafrans in the sense of discontent with the Nigerian project. If you see the statement that we made, it began with a quote from a statement made just last week by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, in which he said “Nigeria is not working.” So, if Nigerians are honest in expressing it (their discontent) in all kinds of different ways and the metaphor for that expression is the word that rallies a people who felt discontent with Nigeria many years ago, that word being ‘Biafra,’ I think you have to be careful with your interpretation of what people mean when they say ‘Biafra.’ Biafra essentially is a catch-all phrase for being unhappy.

Are you still with the APC?

Of course, I am a passionate, committed member of the APC still, and one of my major commitments is to work internally for the reform of the APC from within. (What Nnamdi Kanu told us in prison)

If the Buhari government has not heeded calls to release Kanu so far, what new approach will you take as Igbo elders?

We will cross the bridge when we get there. We pace it and take it one day at a

17 Romeo and Juliet Love Quotes That Stand the Test of Time
Posted by Andrea Schlottman Classic LiteratureQuotes

More commonly known simply as Romeo and Juliet, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous works. The play follows the lives and deaths of Romeo and Juliet, two young star-crossed lovers from feuding families in Verona.

Romeo and Juliet’s love is one of the most beloved, and tragic, in all of classic literature.

But though it’s possibly the most famous love story ever written, many of its quotes are difficult to remember and hard to place within the larger context of the story. Who said “But loft! What light through yonder window breaks?” Besides Romeo and Juliet, who were some of the other characters who had a large impact on the story? What’s the actual context for these quotes, including the surrounding circumstances of the characters at the time?

With the above in mind, here’s a collection of 17 Romeo and Juliet love quotes that truly stand the test of time.

These Violent Delights - Romeo and Juliet Quote Poster Purchase This Poster
These violent delights have violent ends,
And in their triumph die; like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume: the sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness,
And in the taste confounds the appetite:
Therefore love moderately: long love doth so.

Friar Lawrence (Act 2, Scene 6)

Spoken by Friar Lawrence before he marries Romeo off to Juliet, this short speech counsels the young lover to temper his amorous passions.

In this quote, the friar uses the example of honey, which, although delicious to our taste buds, can cause serious stomach pains if we eat too much too quickly. In the same way, while rushing into a loving relationship is tempting, it’s far wiser to be moderate with our passions if we want a marriage that will endure for a lifetime. While this is all sound advice, we could also read this short sermon as foreshadowing Romeo and Juliet’s “violent ends” that come as a result of their “violent delights.”

It’s interesting that Friar Lawrence is always counseling Romeo and Juliet to love moderately, yet the Friar is a driving force that brings the two lovebirds together (and, some might argue, a major factor in their untimely demise). It is Friar Lawrence who agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, even though he knows these two lovers only met a few weeks ago. Also, Friar Lawrence is well aware of the fickle nature of Romeo’s affections considering his unrequited love for Rosaline at the start of the play.

Friar Lawrence argues he’s bringing Romeo and Juliet together to help repair relations between the Capulets and Montagues, which it does…once Romeo and Juliet are found dead by family members. Was Friar Lawrence’s decision to marry these two young lovers somehow immoral? Should he have counseled them to wait rather than plunge them into a commitment he knew they weren’t mature enough to handle? These are just a few questions people have to confront when reading Romeo & Juliet.

Fume of Sighs - Romeo and Juliet Quote Poster Purchase This Poster
This love that thou hast shown
Doth add more grief to too much of mine own.
Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;
Being vexed, a sea nourished with loving tears.
What is it else? A madness most discreet,
A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.

Romeo (Act 1, Scene 1)

The “thou” Romeo is referring to in this quote is his cousin Benvolio. At this time in the drama, Romeo is still pretty bummed about his unrequited love for Rosaline. Benvolio expresses his sorrow for his friend’s low state and Romeo responds with this moody monologue.

Instead of feeling better from his friend’s display of compassion, Romeo sees love as an insidious disease that only increases sadness the more we share it. The first set of images Romeo compares love to are related to fire and smoke. Second, Romeo switches to the watery image of the “sea” to describe lovers’ tears. He closes his speech by comparing love to a “discreet” form of madness and, finally, to poisonous bile that tastes “sweet.”

What’s particularly interesting about this speech is the image of the sea. Juliet, of course, will use this same image to describe her love for Romeo in her famous declaration “My bounty is as boundless as the sea.” In Juliet’s quote, however, love is imagined as only increasing positively the more one shares it (i.e. “the more I give to thee,/The more I have, for both are infinite”).

Of course, Romeo’s quote above sees sharing love in the completely opposite way. For Romeo, more love only increases sorrow and grief. He is still seeing love from an extremely egotistical point of view and has yet to learn the higher ideal of love Juliet will come to represent. We’ll explain these concepts in greater detail as we explore some of the quotes from the balcony scene.

One fairer than my love? the all-seeing sun
Ne’er saw her match since first the world begun.

Romeo (Act 1, Scene 2)

If you haven’t read Romeo & Juliet before, then you might assume the “my love” Romeo is of speaking of is Juliet. Actually, Romeo is talking to his cousin Benvolio about his love for the fair Rosaline in this quote.

Benvolio is trying to get Romeo’s mind off of Rosaline by suggesting he visit the Capulets’ upcoming ball to “compare” the face of Rosaline with all the other beauties in Verona. Ironically, even though Romeo claims he’ll never find a beauty as fair as Rosaline at this party, that’s exactly what happens when he sets eyes on Juliet.

My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.

Juliet (Act 1, Scene 5)

Juliet gives this speech after she discovers the man she’s fallen head-over-heels in love with is Romeo Montague, the son of her family’s sworn enemy. The theme of fate often comes up in a discussion of Romeo & Juliet. Was it really written in the stars that Romeo and Juliet would meet and fall in love? Is there such a thing as a “soul-mate” or “love at first sight” in real life?

Of course, we know that there would be no conflict to hold readers’ attentions if Juliet and Romeo weren’t passionately in love; however, we have to wonder how genuine their affections are.

In case you were wondering, Juliet is only 13 years old during this tragedy. Although we don’t know Romeo’s age for certain, he is only slightly older than Juliet.

Shakespeare based his play off of Arthur Brooke’s poem “The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet,” in which Juliet was 16 and Romeus was a tad older. While nobody knows why Shakespeare decided to make Juliet 13, some critics believe it’s because Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna was 13 at the time he was writing this tragedy.

Juliet Is the Sun - Romeo and Juliet Quote Poster Purchase This Poster
But soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!—
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.

Romeo (Act 2, Scene 2)

Even people who’ve never read Romeo & Juliet before know a few quotes from the iconic balcony scene. It’s incredible how emblematic this scene has become in Western culture. In case you didn’t know already, Romeo climbs up Juliet’s house after the Capulets’ party to pronounce his love (and share a few good night kisses) in this classic scene.

Romeo exclaims these famous words as he watches Juliet leave her bedroom chamber to look out at the night sky. The image he chooses to represent Juliet is the sun, which is interesting because the sun is traditionally associated with the masculine in world mythologies. Although we typically associate the sun with the masculine and the moon with the feminine, many ancient religions reversed these roles. Perhaps Shakespeare is using these older associations to make interesting comments on the fungible nature of gender identity.

When thinking about the characterizations in Romeo & Juliet, you could argue that Juliet has more “masculine” qualities than Romeo. For instance, Juliet seems far more determined to make a commitment to Romeo and ensure she won’t get cheated.

For his part, Romeo exhibits a few stereotypically “feminine” traits, especially his moodiness at the start of the play where he shifts from depression to ecstasy within only a few scenes. Perhaps Shakespeare is using these sun/moon images to highlight the fluidity of gender roles? We’ll see many other instances where Shakespeare plays with the sun/moon images below.

A Rose by Any Other Name - Romeo and Juliet Quote Poster Purchase This Poster
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2)

In yet another famous quote in the balcony scene, Juliet asks why the name “Montague” should separate Romeo from her. Just because the older generations are embroiled in feuds doesn’t mean the new generation has to take on the conflicts of the past.

A quote from James Joyce’s Ulysses seems apt here: “History…is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.” Although Romeo and Juliet try mightily to escape the nightmare of their family histories, they still end their days in tragedy.

It’s significant that the root cause of the conflict between the Montagues and Capulets isn’t revealed. The fact that nobody seems to know why they’re embroiled in a bloody feud highlights the absurdity of holding grudges and helps the tragedy’s themes translate well into foreign cultures. This lack of specificity over the Montague-Capulet feud has also kept this play fresh for us moderns by allowing contemporary artists to adapt the structure of Romeo & Juliet in new settings.

Perhaps the most famous examples of artists using Romeo & Juliet’s plot in different settings include the feud between the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and the feud between the Sharks and the Jets in the musical West Side Story.

See how she leans her cheek
upon her hand, O that I were a
glove upon that hand that I
might touch that cheek!

Romeo (Act 2, Scene 2)

Like any young lover, Romeo is impatient to have Juliet all to himself. While in this quote Romeo only says he wants to touch his lover’s cheek, we know from earlier scenes he’d really like to give his newfound love a big smooch on the lips. Indeed, Romeo was so eager to be with Juliet that he started kissing her right after meeting her at the Capulets’ party!

Sadly, Romeo’s impatience and huge emotional swings are tragic flaws that hasten his own destruction. By contrast, Juliet seems more in control of her emotions, especially in this balcony scene. It’s almost as if Romeo has to be educated by Juliet in the ways of a “higher love” beyond the base lustful urges. Despite his obvious immaturity, most readers have great sympathy for Romeo’s plight.

Good night, good night!
Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it
be morrow.

Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2)

Shakespeare created a many new words in the English language, but one word he most certainly didn’t invent is the adjective “bittersweet.” Interestingly, the world “bittersweet” was initially used as a noun to describe the taste of certain apples in Middle English. Etymologists also believe the Ancient Greeks had a word to describe this unique taste.

It’s unclear when people started using this term to describe emotional states. However, we can be sure Shakespeare’s expression of the sentiment in the above quote is one of the best-known examples in the English language.

I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptiz’d;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

Romeo (Act 2, Scene 2)

Religious imagery like baptism can be found in abundance throughout Romeo and Juliet’s courtship. Indeed, in their first meeting at the Capulets’ party, Romeo and Juliet’s conversation forms a full sonnet that deals with the theme of a pilgrimage.

With all these deliberate references to the Christian religion, it’s almost as if love achieves the status of a high religion in Romeo & Juliet. Maybe we should consider Romeo and Juliet the Western world’s most famous martyrs for the cause of romantic love.

O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circle orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2)

Yet again, we find moon imagery in this famous balcony scene. In this quote, Juliet warns Romeo that she will not put up with him if he is not totally committed to her. Juliet wants Romeo to swear his love by something less “inconstant” than the moon, unless he believes his passions for her are “likewise variable.”

While it’s debatable whether or not Romeo’s affection for Juliet is “variable,” there’s no doubt that Romeo is a moody guy. Much like the moon, Romeo’s emotions shift in almost every scene in this play. Once more Shakespeare is playing around with the “feminine” lunar qualities of Romeo as opposed to the traditionally “masculine” qualities that are more often found in Juliet.

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And yet I wish but for the thing I have;
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.

Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2)

Although this quote isn’t as popular as others in the balcony scene, noted Shakespeare critic Harold Bloom believed it holds the key to Romeo & Juliet‘s universal appeal. Well beyond her years in maturity, Juliet reveals her intuitive wisdom in the nature of reciprocal and unselfish love.

Note how similar in sentiment this quote is to the notion of “loving thy neighbor” in the Christian religion. Once again, romantic love seems to be elevated to a semi-divine status in Romeo & Juliet that can lead people to a greater appreciation of the divine mysteries.

Under love’s heavy burden do I sink.

Romeo (Act 1, Scene 4)

In this quote from Act I of Romeo & Juliet, Romeo complains that he’s still lovesick over his unrequited love for Rosaline. It’s often shocking to new readers how deeply Romeo is affected by Rosaline at the start of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.

Some literary scholars believe that Romeo had to be “prepared” to embrace the higher love Juliet offers by falling in and out of love with Rosaline. Many readers point out that the imagery used by Romeo as the play progresses gets more advanced as he moves into a relationship with Juliet. Perhaps the experience of loss serves as a crucial learning experience in Romeo’s coming-of-age.

Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.

Juliet (Act 3, Scene 2)

This quote comes from Juliet’s passionate soliloquy at the start of Act 3, Scene 2. Yet again we have sun/moon imagery in this quote. Interestingly, Juliet uses the word “garish,” which is exactly the same word Romeo used in one of his soliloquies in the balcony scene. Instead of using garish to describe the moon, however, Juliet uses this adjective to describe the sun.

While Romeo wanted to cast out the moon in worship of his sun Juliet, Juliet wants to cast out the sun so everyone will worship the nighttime stars in which she casts Romeo’s body. Is Shakespeare again signaling the gender differences between Romeo and Juliet with these deliberate image changes?

Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.

Friar Lawrence (Act 2, Scene 3)

Here’s another quote from Friar Lawrence urging the young lovers to exercise moderation in their relationship. It’s clear that Friar Lawrence values moderation, yet he still agrees to marry the young Romeo to Juliet even though he knows the young man isn’t mature enough.

If you’ve ever seen the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli film version of Romeo & Juliet, then you know that Friar Lawrence literally trips after saying this line. Perhaps the director was signaling the Friar’s unwise haste in marrying Romeo and Juliet with this move.

Eyes, look your last!
Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!—
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!
Here’s to my love! [Drinks.]—O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick.—Thus with a kiss I die.

Romeo (Act 5, Scene 3)

One interesting pair of opposites that Shakespeare conflates in this and other quotes in Romeo & Juliet is medicine versus poison. Friar Lawrence is the first to bring up this theme when he discusses the strange mixture of medicinal and poisonous qualities in herbs at the start of Act 2, Scene 3. Here too Romeo freely mixes his poison with medicinal “drugs” and an “apothecary.”

Is it ever possible to see poison as a medicine? Believe it or not, this is one of the major themes postmodern theorists used to develop their ideas of deconstruction and the ambiguity embedded in all texts. French postmodernist Jacques Derrida famously pointed out in his essay “Plato’s Pharmacy” that the philosopher Plato often used the word pharmakon in his Socratic dialogues. The interesting thing about pharmakon is that it could refer to both “medicine” or “poison” in Ancient Greek.

Another pair of opposites Shakespeare complicates at the end of Romeo & Juliet is violence versus peace. Romeo and Juliet’s violent deaths were, after all, the only thing that brought the Montagues and Capulets together towards some kind of reconciliation. As is often the case in Shakespeare’s major works, the comfortable lines we often build between concepts like violence/peace and medicine/poison become blurred.

This is thy sheath [stabs herself]; there rest, and let me die.

Juliet (Act 5, Scene 3)

Romeo and Juliet reveal themselves to be the opposite of what we’d expect with traditional gender roles in their suicides. While it’s not exclusively masculine to kill oneself by stabbing, it certainly is more violent than taking a poison. Granted, Juliet was going to drink from the bottle of poison Romeo chugged, but she could’ve done nothing, right? Juliet, in a very un-ladylike fashion, commits to death by the sword rather than a live a life without her love.

Juliet is not, of course, the only character in Shakespeare to break gender norms. Both Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra are prime examples of strong “masculine” female roles in Shakespeare’s oeuvre. It’s no wonder feminists and gender theorists have been so fascinated with Shakespeare’s plays in recent years!

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun for sorrow will not show his head.
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished;
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Prince (Act 5, Scene 3), speaking the closing words of Romeo & Juliet

Thus ends one of Shakespeare’s most popular tragedies. The Prince appears at the start and end of the play to deliver two soliloquies, both in the form of sonnets. Although the Prince only has these two speeches, they are two of the most frequently quoted in Romeo & Juliet. Indeed, the first soliloquy has given us the now common phrase “star-cross’d lovers.”

Shakespeare was, of course, a master of the sonnet form. Throughout his life he composed a total of 154 collected sonnets, not including the sonnets in his dozens of dramas.

Did you know that you can read The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet for free at Project Gutenberg? You can also read the whole play, love quotes and all, on our full-text Romeo and Juliet poster.

What about you? Did we miss your favorite Romeo and Juliet love quote? If you have any suggestions, let us know in the comments below!