Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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HISTORY

The Claim

In William Shakespeare's play "Henry V", the line "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." appears in the text.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

The evidence clearly shows that this line appears in Shakespeare’s Henry V. Multiple authoritative text sources place “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers” in the St. Crispin’s Day speech in Act 4, Scene 3. A stray scene-labeling error in one source does not affect the text itself.

Caveats

  • Some editions differ slightly in punctuation, capitalization, or spelling conventions, but the quoted wording is standard and well attested.
  • One cited source appears to mislabel the speech as Act V, Scene III; the accepted location is Act 4, Scene 3.
  • The line is often quoted in isolation, but it is part of the larger St. Crispin’s Day speech.

The Receipts

  1. Saint Crispin's Day Speech from Henry V

    Folger Shakespeare Library

  2. Henry V, Act 4, Scene 3

    MIT Shakespeare

  3. Famous Quotes | Henry V

    Royal Shakespeare Company

  4. Henry V, Act V, Scene III [What's he that wishes so?]

    Poets.org

  5. Henry V | Folger Shakespeare Library

    Folger Shakespeare Library

  6. Henry V - Act 4, scene 3 | Folger Shakespeare Library

    Folger Shakespeare Library

  7. The St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V

    The Poetry Society

  8. Louis Butelli and Zach Appelman: Happy Saint Crispin's Day!

    Folger Shakespeare Library

  9. Louis Butelli: Talking Henry V (Pre-Blog Part II)

    Folger Shakespeare Library

  10. Louis Butelli: We Band Of Brothers (And Sisters!)

    Folger Shakespeare Library

+ 8 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Henry VWilliam Shakespeare

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