The most famous quotes from Julius Caesar are about power, fate, and persuasion, and many of the wisest-sounding lines belong to characters who are, at that very moment, about to be proved wrong.
This guide collects the play’s best-known lines act by act, with who says each one, where it comes from, and what it means. For the plot and characters, see our full guide to Julius Caesar, and for the ideas behind the lines, see our guide to its themes.
At a Glance
Here are the five lines from Julius Caesar that everyone knows.
Quotes from Act 1
The opening act introduces Caesar at the height of his power and Cassius at work on Brutus.
“You Blocks, You Stones, You Worse than Senseless Things!”
Marullus, Act 1, scene 1. The tribune scolds a crowd of workmen celebrating Caesar’s triumph over Pompey’s sons, when they once cheered Pompey himself. The play’s first speech is an attack on the fickleness of the Roman crowd, which will decide the story in Act 3.
“Beware the Ides of March”
The soothsayer, Act 1, scene 2. A stranger in the crowd calls out to Caesar, and when Caesar has him brought forward, he repeats the warning word for word. The ides of March is the fifteenth of March, the day Caesar will be killed. Caesar dismisses him: “He is a dreamer.”
“He Doth Bestride the Narrow World Like a Colossus”
Cassius, Act 1, scene 2: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like a Colossus, and we petty men / Walk under his huge legs and peep about / To find ourselves dishonorable graves.” The Colossus of Rhodes was a giant statue of the ancient world. Cassius pictures Caesar as a giant and the other Romans as little men creeping between his feet.
“The Fault, Dear Brutus, Is Not in Our Stars”
Cassius, Act 1, scene 2: “Men at some time are masters of their fates. / The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” The stars here stand for fate. If the Romans are ruled by Caesar, Cassius argues, they cannot blame destiny for it. The weakness is their own, and so is the power to end it.
“Yond Cassius Has a Lean and Hungry Look”
Caesar, Act 1, scene 2, to Antony. He begins, “Let me have men about me that are fat,” and goes on: “Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. / He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.” Caesar is right, and he knows it, but he insists he does not fear Cassius, “for always I am Caesar.”
“It Was Greek to Me”
Casca, Act 1, scene 2. Asked what Cicero said when Caesar was offered the crown, Casca answers that Cicero spoke Greek, and that those who understood him smiled at one another, “but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me.” In the play, it is literally true. The phrase has since become a common way of saying something is impossible to understand.
“Cassius from Bondage Will Deliver Cassius”
Cassius, Act 1, scene 3, on the stormy night before the ides. When Casca tells him the Senate means to crown Caesar, Cassius answers, “I know where I will wear this dagger then; / Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius.” He means he will turn the dagger on himself, since he would rather die by his own hand than live under a king. It is the first hint of how he will die.
Quotes from Act 2
The night of the conspiracy and the morning of the murder.
“It Must Be by His Death”
Brutus, Act 2, scene 1, alone in his orchard. The first words of his soliloquy show that he has already decided, and the rest of the speech searches for a reason. He knows “no personal cause to spurn at him,” so he argues from what Caesar might become, comparing him to “a serpent’s egg” that must be killed “in the shell.”
“Brutus, Thou Sleep’st. Awake, and See Thyself!”
An anonymous letter, read by Brutus in Act 2, scene 1. Lucius has found it by the window. Brutus believes it comes from the citizens of Rome, but the audience knows Cassius has planted letters like it to win him over. He takes it as a call to action: “O Rome, I make thee promise.”
“Let’s Be Sacrificers, but Not Butchers”
Brutus, Act 2, scene 1, refusing Cassius’s plan to kill Antony too: “Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.” He wants the murder to look like a noble offering, not a slaughter: “Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, / Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.” Sparing Antony proves to be a fatal mistake.
“A Woman That Lord Brutus Took to Wife”
Portia, Act 2, scene 1, demanding that Brutus share his secret: “I grant I am a woman, but withal / A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife. / I grant I am a woman, but withal / A woman well-reputed, Cato’s daughter.” She admits her sex but refuses to accept that it makes her weak, and she offers a self-inflicted wound in her thigh as proof.
“When Beggars Die There Are No Comets Seen”
Calpurnia, Act 2, scene 2, begging Caesar to stay home: “When beggars die there are no comets seen; / The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” The night’s strange sights, she argues, are not signs for everyone. Heaven marks only the deaths of great men, so they must be meant for Caesar.
“Cowards Die Many Times Before Their Deaths”
Caesar, Act 2, scene 2, in reply: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once.” A coward lives through his death again and again in fear, while a brave man dies only once, when the time comes. Caesar adds that death, “a necessary end, / Will come when it will come.”
Quotes from Act 3
The murder, the two funeral speeches, and the riot that follows.
“The Ides of March Are Come”
Caesar, Act 3, scene 1, spotting the soothsayer on his way to the Senate. He means it as a taunt: the dangerous day has arrived, and nothing has happened. The soothsayer answers, “Ay, Caesar, but not gone.”
“I Am Constant as the Northern Star”
Caesar, Act 3, scene 1, refusing to pardon Metellus Cimber’s banished brother: “But I am constant as the northern star, / Of whose true fixed and resting quality / There is no fellow in the firmament.” The northern star appears fixed while every other star moves, and Caesar claims he alone never changes his mind. They are almost his last words.
“Et Tu, Brute? Then Fall, Caesar”
Caesar, Act 3, scene 1, as Brutus stabs him. “Et tu, Brute?” is Latin for “You too, Brutus?” Seeing his friend among the killers, he gives up. The words do not come from the ancient accounts of Caesar’s death, which report other last words or none at all.
“Cry ‘Havoc!’ and Let Slip the Dogs of War”
Antony, Act 3, scene 1, alone with Caesar’s body. He prophesies that Caesar’s spirit, “ranging for revenge, / With Ate by his side come hot from hell,” will “Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war.” Ate is the Greek goddess of ruin. Civil war, Antony promises, is coming, and it will be merciless.
“Not That I Loved Caesar Less, but That I Loved Rome More”
Brutus, Act 3, scene 2, explaining the murder to the people in prose. If any friend of Caesar’s asks why Brutus rose against him, “this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” It is the heart of his defense: he chose his country over his friend.
“Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Ears”
Antony, Act 3, scene 2, beginning the most famous speech in the play: “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. / I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” He claims he has come only to perform a funeral, then spends the speech praising Caesar and turning the crowd against his killers. Our guide to “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” reads the whole speech.
“The Evil That Men Do Lives After Them”
Antony, in the same speech: “The evil that men do lives after them; / The good is oft interred with their bones.” People remember a man’s wrongs long after his death, while the good he did is buried with him. Antony says it as if accepting that Caesar will be remembered badly, then spends the rest of the speech making sure he is not.
“For Brutus Is an Honorable Man”
Antony’s refrain, repeated through the speech, often right after a piece of evidence that Caesar was not ambitious. He never openly calls Brutus a liar. He simply repeats the phrase until the crowd hears it as irony.
“This Was the Most Unkindest Cut of All”
Antony, Act 3, scene 2, showing the crowd the tear Brutus’s dagger made in Caesar’s cloak: “Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him! / This was the most unkindest cut of all.” The double superlative, “most unkindest,” makes Brutus’s blow sound worse than any other wound.
“Tear Him for His Bad Verses”
A plebeian, Act 3, scene 3. The mob stops Cinna the poet, who shares his name with one of the conspirators. He protests, “I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet!” and the answer comes back, “Tear him for his bad verses.” The grim joke shows a crowd that no longer needs a reason.
Quotes from Act 4
The new rulers of Rome, and the quarrel in Brutus’s tent.
“I Had Rather Be a Dog and Bay the Moon”
Brutus, Act 4, scene 3, accusing Cassius of taking bribes: “I had rather be a dog and bay the moon / Than such a Roman.” After killing Caesar for justice, he says, they cannot now sell their honor for money. He would rather be a dog howling at the moon than a Roman who did that.
“A Friend Should Bear His Friend’s Infirmities”
Cassius, Act 4, scene 3, in the same quarrel: “A friend should bear his friend’s infirmities, / But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.” A true friend puts up with his friend’s faults instead of exaggerating them. Brutus replies, “I do not like your faults,” and Cassius answers, “A friendly eye could never see such faults.”
“There Is a Tide in the Affairs of Men”
Brutus, Act 4, scene 3, arguing that they should march to Philippi at once: “There is a tide in the affairs of men / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; / Omitted, all the voyage of their life / Is bound in shallows and in miseries.” Like a ship waiting for high tide, a man must act when the moment is right, or miss it for good. Cassius gives way, and the decision leads to their defeat.
Quotes from Act 5
The battle of Philippi and the deaths of Cassius and Brutus.
“Forever and Forever Farewell, Cassius”
Brutus, Act 5, scene 1, before the battle: “Forever and forever farewell, Cassius. / If we do meet again, why we shall smile; / If not, why then this parting was well made.” Cassius answers with almost the same words. After their quarrel, the two friends part in perfect agreement, and they never meet again alive.
“Caesar, Thou Art Revenged”
Cassius, Act 5, scene 3, as his servant Pindarus kills him: “Caesar, thou art revenged, / Even with the sword that killed thee.” Believing, wrongly, that the battle is lost and his friend Titinius captured, he dies on the same sword he used against Caesar, and he sees the justice in it.
“Caesar, Now Be Still”
Brutus, Act 5, scene 5, running on his own sword while his servant Strato holds it: “Caesar, now be still. / I killed not thee with half so good a will.” He speaks to Caesar’s spirit as if his own death will finally let it rest, and he admits he kills himself more willingly than he killed his friend.
“This Was the Noblest Roman of Them All”
Antony, Act 5, scene 5, over Brutus’s body. The other conspirators, he says, acted out of envy of Caesar, and only Brutus out of concern for the common good. He ends: “His life was gentle, and the elements / So mixed in him that nature might stand up / And say to all the world, ‘This was a man.’” The man who turned Rome against Brutus gives him his epitaph.
A Closer Reading: Wise Words at the Wrong Moment
Read the famous lines of Julius Caesar in context, and a pattern appears: the play’s most quotable wisdom is nearly always spoken by someone who is about to be proved wrong.
Take “Cowards die many times before their deaths.” Out of context, it is a noble sentiment about courage. In the play, Caesar says it to brush off his wife’s fears and the night’s portents. Minutes later, a flatterer talks him into going to the Senate, where he dies. His courage is real, but so is his vanity, and the fine line serves both.
Or take “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars.” It sounds like a statement of human freedom, and it is often quoted that way. But Cassius says it to recruit Brutus, and he does not hold to it. At Philippi, the man who told Brutus not to blame the stars begins to read omens in the birds overhead, and he dies because he misreads what he sees on the battlefield.
The same is true of “There is a tide in the affairs of men.” It is Brutus’s case for marching to Philippi, and his tide carries them to disaster. In the battle itself, he misjudges the moment again. As Titinius puts it, “Brutus gave the word too early.” Even Antony’s great opening, “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him,” is the opposite of what he does next.
That fits a play about persuasion. Fine words in Julius Caesar are tools, and the people who use them are often persuading themselves as much as anyone else. The lines have outlived their speakers because they sound true, and the play shows how often something that sounds true can lead a man astray. Our guide to the Julius Caesar characters follows each speaker to his end.
Common Questions
The questions readers ask most often about quotes from Julius Caesar, answered briefly.
What Is the Most Famous Quote from Julius Caesar?
“Et tu, Brute?” and “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” are probably the best known, both from Act 3. “Beware the ides of March” and “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars” are close behind.
What Does “Et Tu, Brute?” Mean?
“You too, Brutus?” in Latin. Caesar says it in Act 3, scene 1, when he sees his friend among his killers. The words do not appear in the ancient sources for Caesar’s death, and Shakespeare’s version is the one that became famous.
What Does “Beware the Ides of March” Mean?
Be careful on the fifteenth of March. The soothsayer warns Caesar in Act 1, scene 2, and the conspirators kill him on that day.
Who Says “Friends, Romans, Countrymen”?
Mark Antony, at Caesar’s funeral in Act 3, scene 2. He speaks after Brutus, with the conspirators’ permission, and turns the crowd against them.
What Does “It Was Greek to Me” Mean?
That something was impossible to understand. In the play, Casca means it literally, since Cicero was speaking Greek.
Related Reading
Three pages that take Julius Caesar further.