All the world's a stage

Cultural  

1. The beginning of a speech in the play As You Like It, by William Shakespeare. It is also called “The Seven Ages of Man,” because it treats that many periods in a man's life: his years as infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, judge, foolish old man, and finally “second childishness and mere oblivion.” The speech begins: “All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players….”

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Example Sentences

The more one speaks to 2hollis, the more one realizes he embodies the Shakespearean line “All the world’s a stage.”

From Los Angeles Times

“All the world’s a stage,/ and all the men and women merely players,” Jaques declares in “As You Like It,” and his melancholy set piece reflects a standard Elizabethan trope that Shakespeare as a man of the theater couldn’t resist.

From Los Angeles Times

Listening carefully, he realized Agnew was reciting a famous Shakespearean soliloquy: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances.”

From Seattle Times

All the world’s a stage, and all the cadets are merely players.

From New York Times

As part of our conversation, we decided that Shakespeare was right: "All the world's a stage" and we had both played many roles.

From Salon