Becket (1964) - Quotes

An Era of Unrestrained Desires and Passions

Taglines: An age of rampant lusts, abandon, runaway passions. An age brought bristling to life by two of the most exciting stars of our time!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Friendship, Conflict, and the Path to Martyrdom

Taglines: A taste for wine and women made them friends. A sudden clash made them man and martyr...which led to murder!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Justice and Honor in Times of Penance

King Henry II: The honor of God, gentlemen, is a very good thing. And all things considered, one gains by having it on one's side. Thomas Becket, our friend, always used to say so. Tonight in counsel, we will determine what punishment his murderers should receive.

Baron: Sire. They are unknown.

King Henry II: [gives the barons a pointed look] Our justice will seek them out, you may be sure. It is a time, my dear barons,... for all of us to do penance.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Opening the Doors for Divine Service

Brother Philip: Your Grace, there are armed men at the doors. I bolted the doors, but...

Thomas a Becket: It's time for Vespers. Does one bolt the doors during Vespers? I've never heard of it.

Brother Philip: But, your Grace...

Thomas a Becket: Open them. Everything must be as it should be for divine service.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Value of Thought in Nobility

King Henry II: Tell me, do you ever think?

Baron: Never, sire! A gentleman has better things to do.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

A Complex Relationship of Loyalty and Love

King Henry II: You never loved me, did you, Thomas?!

Thomas a Becket: In so far as I was capable of love,.... yes, I did.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Conflict Between Loyalty and Betrayal

King Henry II: Becket is my enemy. But in the human balance, traitor that he is and naked as his mother made him, he's worth a hundred of you, madam, with your crown and your jewels and your august uncle, the Emperor, into the bargain. I'm forced to fight him now and crush him, but at least he gave me with open hands everything that is at all good in me. And you have never given me anything but your carping mediocrity and your everlasting obsession with your puny little person and what you thought was due to it. That is why I forbid you to smile while Becket is being destroyed.

Eleanor of Aquitaine: I gave you my youth. Gave you your children.

King Henry II: [briefly grieves] I don't LIKE my children! And as for your youth, that withered flower, pressed between the pages of a hymn book since you were twelve years old with its watery blood and stale insipid scent, you can bid farewell to that without a tear. Your body was a empty desert, madam, that duty forced me to wander in alone. But you have never been a wife to me! And Becket was my friend. Red-blooded, generous and full of strength. Oh, my Thomas.

Empress Matilda: And I. I have given you nothing, I suppose.

King Henry II: Life. Yes. Thank you. But after that, I never saw you except in a passageway on your way to a ball in your crown and ermine mantle ten minutes before official ceremonies, when you were forced to tolerate my presence. NO! No one on this Earth has ever loved me! Except Becket.

Empress Matilda: Call him back, then. Absolve him if he loves you. Give him back his power. But do something.

King Henry II: I am. I'm learning to be alone.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Unrequited Loyalty and Sacrifice

Thomas a Becket: [returning the Chancellor's ring] Forgive me.

King Henry II: You give the lions of England back to me, like a little boy who doesn't want to play anymore. I would have gone to war with all England's might behind me, and even against England's interests, to defend you, Thomas. I would have given away my life laughingly for you. Only I loved you and you didn't love me. That's the difference.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

An Unexpected Dialogue on Leadership Choices

Thomas a Becket: [Brother John doesn't answer] Well, now. Wouldn't you rather have a Saxon Archbishop than a Norman one? I hope I won't regret sending for you.

Brother John: Why did you?

Thomas a Becket: I'm not sure. Perhaps in a young, intemperate way, yours is a voice that is good for me to hear.

Brother John: Then why--

Thomas a Becket: But PLEASE. Not too often, and not too loud, Brother John.

Brother John: You betrayed your Saxon race. Now you betray God.

Thomas a Becket: Perhaps you will succeed in teaching me humility. It's a virtue I've never really mastered.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Strength and Strategy in Leadership

King Henry II: Am I the strongest or am I not?

Thomas a Becket: You are today, but one must never drive one's enemy to despair; it makes him strong. Gentleness is better politics, it saps virility. A good occupational force must never crush. It must corrupt.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Church and State: A Tense Negotiation

King Henry II: But what will God say if I attack His Church? After all, they're His bishops.

Thomas a Becket: We must manage the Church. One can always come to a sensible little arrangement with God.

King Henry II: [laughs] Becket,... you're a monster.

Thomas a Becket: [chuckles] You flatter me, My Lord. But please, my Lord, dress quickly. It's, uh... it's inelegant for conquerers to be late.

King Henry II: [laughs even harder] You're a MONSTER!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Loyalty and Duty in Political Intrigue

Thomas a Becket: Meanwhile, we have some business to discuss. I've been studying the dispatches from England.

King Henry II: You love work, don't you? If you love anything.

Thomas a Becket: I love doing what I have to do and doing it well.

King Henry II: You'd be as efficient against me as for me, wouldn't you?

Thomas a Becket: [[Fate] If ] had arranged it that way.

King Henry II: So what in most people is morality, in you, it's just an exercise in... what's the word?

Thomas a Becket: [[Aesthetics] ].

King Henry II: Yes, that's the word. Always "aesthetics.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Invention of the Fork

Thomas a Becket: Tonight, you can do me the honor of christening my forks.

King Henry II: Forks?

Thomas a Becket: Yes, from Florence. New little invention. It's for pronging meat and carrying it to the mouth. It saves you dirtying your fingers.

King Henry II: But then you dirty the fork.

Thomas a Becket: Yes, but it's washable.

King Henry II: So are your fingers. I don't see the point.

Thomas a Becket: [Henry laughs at that.] Well, it hasn't any, practically speaking. But it's refined, it's subtle, it's very... un-Norman.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Trust and Honor in Leadership Dynamics

King Henry II: You know, when I took you into my service, everyone predicted you would put a knife in my back.

Thomas a Becket: Did you believe them?

King Henry II: No. I assured them that you were a man of honor. And a collaborator.

Thomas a Becket: That was accurate of you.

King Henry II: How do you combine the two?

Thomas a Becket: My Lord?

King Henry II: Honor... and collaboration.

Thomas a Becket: .... I don't try. I love good living, and good living is Norman. I love life, and a Saxon's only birthright is to be slaughtered. One collaborates to live.

King Henry II: And honor?

Thomas a Becket: Honor is a concern of the living. One can't very well be concerned about it once one's dead.

King Henry II: You're too clever for me, Thomas. But I know there's something not quite right about your reasoning.

Thomas a Becket: Honor is a private matter within. It's an idea, and every man has his own version of it.

King Henry II: How gracefully you tell your King to mind his own business.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

King Louis VII's Concern for Becket's Safety

King Louis VII of France: [to aide] You know, it's a strange thing, but Becket's safety has become quite dear to me.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

A King’s Reflection on Rivalry and Conflict

King Louis VII of France: I'm glad you weren't born on this side of the channel, Thomas. You'd've been a thorn in my side, too.

Complimenting a Guest's Presence

King Louis VII of France: [to Becket] You're the ideal guest.

The Game of Courtesy Among Nations

King Louis VII of France: My dear man, crowned heads are free to play a little game of courtesy, but nations owe one another none.

A King's Disdain for Impertinent Diplomacy

King Louis VII of France: [[w:English Channel|English channel] The King of England and his Ambassadors can drown themselves in what they are impertinent enough to call their ].

Sympathy for Henry's Struggles

Thomas a Becket: [final words] Poor Henry.

A Reflection on Extremes

Thomas a Becket: You are a creature of extremes, aren't you, Brother John?

Reflecting on the Ease of Enjoyment

Thomas a Becket: Dear Lord, I wish there were something I really regretted parting with, so that I might offer it to You. But forgive me, Lord, it's like going on a holiday. I've never enjoyed myself so much in my whole life. Lord? Are you sure you're not laughing at me? It all seems far too easy.

A Plea Against Unwise Actions

Thomas a Becket: [in response to Henry's idea to make him [[w:Archbishop of Canterbury|Archbishop of Canterbury] I beg of you,.... Do not do this.

Conflict Between Normans and Saxons

Thomas a Becket: When you Normans invaded England, you seized our Saxon lands, burned our Saxon homes, raped our Saxon sisters. Naturally, you hate Saxons.

Questioning the Purity of Honor

King Henry II: Is the honor of God washed clean enough? Are you satisfied now, Thomas?

King's Frustration with a Priest

King Henry II: Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?

Assertion of Royal Authority

King Henry II: I am the King, Thomas. And so long as we are on this Earth, you owe me the first move. I'm prepared to forget a lot of things, but not the fact that I am King. You yourself taught me that.

King Henry II's Frustration with His Court

King Henry II: [laughing] It's funny. It's too funny. He's made mincemeat of them. I'm surrounded by FOOLS! Becket is the only intelligent man in my kingdom and he's against me!

The Importance of the Great Seal of England

King Henry II: [to Becket, after appointing him Chancellor; puts a ring on Becket's finger] I never did anything without your advice. No one knew it. Now everyone will. That's all. There. That's the Great Seal of England. Don't lose it. Without the Seal, there's no more England, and we'll all have to pack up and go back to Normandy.