A text attributed to the English playwright about how to live a happy life is popular on the Internet. We decided to check if he wrote anything similar.

The completely viral text reads: “I always feel happy. Do you know why? Because I don't expect anything from anyone. Expectations are always a pain. Life is short. So love your life. Be happy. And smile. Listen before you speak. Think before you write. Before you spend money, earn money. Before you pray, say goodbye. Feel before you hurt. Love before you hate. Live before you die." This statement, indicating the authorship of William Shakespeare, can be found on sites with quotes And aphorisms, entertaining portals, social networks (“VKontakte", Facebook*, Instagram*) and on blog platforms (LiveJournal, "Peekaboo", "Zen").

This recommendation is about how to live a happy life, popular not only in Russian, but also in English - Shakespeare's native language. In the English version, the phrase sounds like this: “I always feel happy. Do you know why? Because I don’t expect anything from anyone. Expectations always hurt. Life is short. So love your life. Be happy. & Keep smiling. Just live for yourself & before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you pray, forgive. Before you hurt, feel. Before you hate, love. Before you quit, try. Before you die, live." However, those who have ever read Shakespeare in the original, they will easily notice the difference - during the life of the playwright, the English language was somewhat different from the modern one.

Although Shakespeare's literary legacy has been extensively researched and digitized in the four centuries since Shakespeare's death, Verified has been unable to locate such a citation in any authoritative source. She is not mentioned on the site Folger Libraries - the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's texts, in Shakespeare Electronic Archive, collected by specialists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or on the website of a charitable organization Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, storing, by words its staff, the world's largest public library and archive of sources written by or about the playwright.

Fact checkers from the PolitiFact project contacted to the Folger Library experts asking if Shakespeare ever wrote anything like this. Research assistant and librarian Abby Weinberg responded that it was definitely not Shakespeare: the style of the phrase was not similar to the work of the playwright, and she did not understand how this text could be attributed to him in principle. Australian Associated Press (AAP) fact checkers contacted to researchers of the playwright’s work from Australian universities - they also did not confirm the connection between Shakespeare and advice on a happy life. AAP journalists also point out that at least part of the quote was taken from poems American writer William Arthur Ward.

Thus, Shakespeare has nothing to do with the text on happiness attributed to him. Experts on the playwright’s work deny that his works contain such or similar reflections. But a very similar phrase was found in the text of another writer who lived three centuries later than Shakespeare.

*Russian authorities consider the company Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, to be an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Cover photo: Attributed to John Taylor, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons