Act II, Scene 7 — All the world's a stage
from As You Like It
Written by William Shakespeare
Jaques delivers a cynical yet profound meditation on the seven stages of human life, from infancy to old age and eventual death. He compares the world to a theater where every individual is merely an actor playing a sequence of roles.
JAQUES: All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
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