The exact words
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be: For loan oft loses both itself and friend; And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.”Shakespeare, Hamlet 1.3 (Polonius)
✓ VerifiedFound in a primary source: the original book, speech transcript, letter or recording.
What people get wrong
Common reading
Timeless wisdom from Shakespeare himself.
Timeless wisdom from Shakespeare himself.
Closer to the original
The words belong to Polonius, a long-winded busybody whom the play treats as a bit of a fool. Audiences laugh at him. Still, this particular piece of advice is practical, and the reason he gives (lending “oft loses both itself and friend”) is the part worth quoting.
The words belong to Polonius, a long-winded busybody whom the play treats as a bit of a fool. Audiences laugh at him. Still, this particular piece of advice is practical, and the reason he gives (lending “oft loses both itself and friend”) is the part worth quoting.
Timeline
- c. 1600Shakespeare writes Hamlet. Before his son Laertes sails for France, the old courtier Polonius gives him a list of rules for life, including this one and “to thine own self be true.”
- 1603–1623The play is printed in the First Quarto, the Second Quarto and the First Folio. The money advice appears in the fuller versions of the speech.
- TodayThe line is quoted in personal finance books and by parents sending children off to college, usually without the second half that explains it.
Use it in a speech
Polonius told his son, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend.” Four hundred years later, with student loans in the picture, the first half is harder. The second half still holds.
~13 secondsto say aloud
Pauseafter “itself and friend”
Best spotthe advice section of the speech
Dad never quoted Hamlet, but he lived by one line of it: neither a borrower nor a lender be. He paid cash, and he never lost a friend over money.
~10 secondsto say aloud
Pauseafter “lender be”
Best spota story about his habits
Polonius's warning that a loan “oft loses both itself and friend” treats debt as a social risk as much as a financial one.
~7 secondsto say aloud
Pausenone needed in writing
Best spotopening of a paragraph on personal debt
Questions people ask
Who said “neither a borrower nor a lender be”?
Polonius, a character in Shakespeare's Hamlet, in Act 1, Scene 3, as advice to his son Laertes.
What does “borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry” mean?
“Husbandry” meant careful management of money and goods. Borrowing makes you less careful about spending, because the money doesn't feel like yours.
Is this line in the Bible?
No. It is often mistaken for a proverb from the Bible, but it comes from Hamlet.
Cite this quote
These cite the original source directly, so you can use them in an essay or paper. Always check your teacher's required style.
MLAShakespeare, William. Hamlet. Act 1, Scene 3. c. 1600. Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1524.
APAShakespeare, W. (1600). Hamlet. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1524
CHICAGOWilliam Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3, c. 1600.
IN TEXT (APA)(Shakespeare, 1600)