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How to Cite
Manser, Martin H. "all the world's a stage." Writer's Reference Center. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 18 Apr. 2025. <http://fofweb.infobase.com/wrc/Detail.aspx?iPin=DOP00040>.
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all the world's a stage

Definition 
Everybody goes through life acting out the roles that they have to play: "Jackie [Onassis] never lets down in public. The whole world is a stage and she's its leading lady" (New York Post, 1994). The proverb was popularized in this form in Shakespeare's play As You Like It (2:7): "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."

Variant of this proverb: the world is a stage and all the people in it actors.

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