I've been meaning to do this for a while and finally had the time to do it.  In a highly unscientific manner I punched "Shakespeare tattoo" into the Pinterest search engine, and started tracking what came upwardly.  Although at that place were a variety of Shakespeare images, in this instance I was looking purely at the quotes.

Unfortunately if more than ane person finds the same image and pins it, all those instances will show upwards, and it would be most impossible for me to do anything nearly that. And then instead I factored information technology into the equation.  The prevalence of a given Shakespeare tattoo doesn't but hateful "More people have this one" it also means "More people *like* this 1."

I learned that pictures of freshly done tattoos are pretty gross.  Many of these showed people all red and swollen which I assume means they took the picture immediately upon completion.  I likewise learned that people volition tattoo pretty much anywhere on their body, and saw a off-white share of nearly naked people with just a hand covering the $.25 that weren't Shakespeare. (Though it'south not on pinterest and was not part of this study I think seeing a motion picture of a woman in the bathtub whose Shakespeare tattoo was so loftier up her leg that I hope she married her tattoo artist afterward.)

In total I looked at 74 Shakespeare tattoos (or, as noted, re-pins of tattoos). I was surprised at how lopsided the distribution was.  Seventeen of those (near 1/fourth the total) were unique – I found only 1 tattoo like it. I think my favorite may have been this i:

Shakespeare tattoo: My love was my decay

"My love was my decay"

Because I saw a gazillion Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Tempest and Sonnet 116….merely who goes to Sonnet eighty?  Y'all've got to really know and love your textile to pull something that almost guarantees no one you ever meet in life will recognize it.  I'll admit I even passed that i over at first as a not by Shakespeare until I read the note associated with it.

[ All images come up from a Pinterest search on "shakespeare tattoo".  I do non own the rights to whatever images. ]

Viii tattoos were in the category of "a few people have or like this i".  Typically I spotted betwixt ii-4 instances of each of these (in no detail lodge):

  • "What'south past is prologue"
  • "To sleep perchance to dream"
  • "If music be the nutrient of love play on"
  • "Hell is empty and all the devils are here"
  • "Stars, hibernate your fires"
  • "These violent delights have violent ends."
  • "All these woes shall serve for sweet discourse in our time to come."

There were too a few variations on Sonnet 116, including i person with the entire sonnet only well-nigh with a portion of "Dearest is not dearest that alters…"  Though I like the person who went with "Looks on tempests and is never shaken."  Two different things to focus on.

But and then we get to the big winners.  Two stood out as conspicuously more popular than the others.  The runner-up, appearing eighteen times in my list?

Shakespeare tattoo: To thine own self be true
"To thine ain self be true."

I saw Polonius' advice on more body parts than I can count (such as the pictured foot).

Merely the winner (appearing 19 times in the list)?  Want to take a approximate?

Shakespeare tattoo: Though she be but little she is fierce
"Though she be but little, she is trigger-happy."

Everybody loves this quote.  Non only was information technology the most popular, I saw a number of people who pinned a different tattoo with the comment, "I like this style, only with the quote about she'southward piffling and fierce."

What practice you think quote choice says almost the person?  I found information technology fascinating to consider the dissimilar places people take to be in their lives to write of "violent ends" and "all these woes", compared to those that write of music beingness the food of love (and bonus points to the creative soul who went with "the world has music for those who mind" instead).  And how most all these "little but tearing" tattoos? Is that a motivational message to the bearer?  Or a warning to her enemies? Perchance a petty of both.