It took me a long time to appreciate him!
When I was at school in the early 60's we were compelled to study some of Shakespeare's works. How I hated Macbeth and his witches; Hamlet and his Scandinavian plots; The boring whining of the Taming of The Shrew.
At age 19 I became an actor upon the stage (first at university), and had parts in all three of the above-mentioned plays (and others). Suddenly Shakespeare was no longer in a book --he was real and clever and provided fantastic lines and scenarios to throw about, great emotions to wring out (if you were good enough) and he posed mysterious, dark questions about the human character.
Shakespeares plays crackle, inspire and laugh at you. They peer over cliffs at doom, anger you at the folly of love and provoke you to consider the consequences of foolish acts. All of life is wrapped up in Shakespeares many plays. After appearing in his plays, cursing or loving or murdering as he directed, I developed a love for his works and quote many lines sentimentally. I'm pleased I was inspired but sorry that I had not found him sooner!
Did Shakespeare bore you at school as well and did you find his greatness another way?