what a piece of work is a man speaker

"What a piece of work is a man" is a phrase within a monologue by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeares play Hamlet. Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition. The full quote of this famous speech reads: "What a piece of work is a man! How Noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals!".