Did William Shakespeare say "I always feel happy..."?

Question

Is the attribution of this quote to William Shakespeare correct?

I always feel happy. You know why? Because I don’t expect anything from anyone. Expectations always hurt… Life is short… So love your life… Be happy… And keep smiling… Just live for yourself and…
Before you speak? Listen..
Before you write? Think..
Before you spend? Earn..

This quote is widely used as a status line in social networks.
Examples: top quotes collection, tumblr, blog entry.
I failed to find the source of this quote in the works of Shakespeare. Can someone prove or disprove this attribution?

Doesn't sound like The Bard. But who knows, it could be a reworded sonnet. — jwenting, Feb 08 '12 at 11:52
my brain is playing tricks to me, for a moment I read william shatner instead of william shakespeare — santiagozky, Feb 08 '12 at 17:40
This sounds like one of those chain emails. You know the ones made of a mishmash of unattributed cut and pasted quotes written in a really big pink and red fonts with a couple of silly pictures of dogs. — Kevin Laity, Feb 08 '12 at 18:17
Perhaps this comes from someone making more of what Shakespeare did say and then people attributing it directly to Shakespeare over time. Here is what Shakespeare did say about expectations: “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” — , Feb 24 '15 at 05:04
@KevinFitzMaurice Thanks for another example of a quote incorrectly attributed to Shakespeare! :) — default locale, Feb 24 '15 at 06:42
@santiagozky William Shatner would be a much more believable source for these quotes. — BorderlineBaguette, Jul 11 '16 at 10:11

score 40 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 10 '16 at 09:47

I can see that part of the text in the post is taken from another set of quotes by William Arthur Ward

Before You By William Arthur Ward

Before you speak, listen.

Before you write, think.

Before you spend, earn.

Before you invest, investigate.

Before you criticize, wait.

Before you pray, forgive.

Before you quit, try.

Before you retire, save.

Before you die, give.

I've also run keyword searches on two Shakespeare search engines 1 1 and cannot find phrases such as "Expectations always hurt" and "Keep smiling" at all.

So I'm going to say the passage you've posted is NOT by Shakespeare - at least, not all of it.

On a sidenote - one phrase which did exist is "Life is short"

Henry IV, Part I [V, 2]

I cannot read them now. O gentlemen, the time of life is short!

Shakespeare, however, did say something similar to "Expectations always hurt" in All's Well That Ends Well.

Oft expectation fails and most oft there

"Oft expectation fails, and most oft there / Where most it promises; and oft it hits / Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits." — Jim Balter, Apr 23 '19 at 21:37

Did William Shakespeare say "I always feel happy..."?

1 Answers1