More Sayings than You Can Shake a Spear At

The plays of William Shakespeare have a lot of turns of phrase
That still are said today. Perhaps you’re in your salad days
And feel you have no use for them. That’s neither here nor there.
You’re bound to come across them; they won’t vanish into air.
OK, they’re sometimes paraphrased, but don’t get up in arms.
I wouldn’t give short shrift; his contributions have their charms.
As luck would have it, idioms of his aren’t hard to trace.
To look for them would hardly be to start a wild goose chase.
He didn’t coin them all, but such recycling is fair play.
It’s with his help these quips will last forever and a day.
I’m not about to say them all, as that would be absurd.
How many have I used herein? I’m sorry: Mum’s the word.