What a piece of work is a man What a piece of work is a man "What a piece of work is man!" is a phrase within a soliloquy by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition. The soliloquy, spoken in the play by Prince Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act II, Scene 2, follows in its entirety. Rather than appearing in blank verse, the typical mode of composition of Shakespeare's plays, the speech appears in straight prose: Hamlet is saying that although humans may appear to think and act "nobly"
What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch! What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch! "What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch!" (; sometimes separated by exclamation mark instead of comma) is a catchphrase and winged word from Alexander Pushkin's correspondence with one of his friends, poet Pyotr Vyazemsky. The phrase commonly expresses a joy after finishing one's work and appears particularly in several Russian literary works. In a letter dated circa November 7 or beginning of October, 1825 Pushkin, celebrating his finished drama "Boris Godunov" wrote to Vyazemsky: That was preceded by what Pushkin wrote to Vyazemsky on July 13 of the same