"We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." What is the meaning of this quote?

Question

I'm reading Long Day's Journey Into Night, and there's a quote from the Shakespearan play The Tempest. The quote is:

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

Does anyone know what this quote means? Thanks!

Answer 1

It reminds us that our lives are fleeting and uncertain. And that ultimately, we are dependent upon imagination and illusion for meaning. Through Shakespeare’s plays, the audience discovers first hand this faculty of illusion, as we are swept up into the realm of imagination. At the same time that this is going on, the audience witnesses characters having the same experience. As the Athenian lovers awake from their midsummer night’s dream, the line between dream and waking is blurred.

I found a pretty decent explanations at the weblinks below.

Answer 2

We are such stuff
As dreams are made on and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep..."

--From The Tempest (IV, i, 156-157)

Prospero has consented to the marriage of his daughter and Ferdinand in this whimsical play about reconciling with family, forgiveness, and faith in the future. Prospero lives on a magical island with his daughter, Miranda, and a host of spirits and sprites. He was banished by his brother over a decade ago, and has now used his magic to cause the ship on which his brother and King Alonso and his entourage were sailing to come under his influence. They have been shipwrecked on Prospero's island, and a series of magical events occur. When Miranda and Ferdinand are about to marry, Prospero speaks the famous line which celebrates that uniquely human blend of mind and matter.