32 quotes
Belief and Heresy in Elizabethan Politics
Elizabeth
We all believe in God, my Lords.
Lord Howard
No, Madam, there is only one true belief; the other, heresy.
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Marriage Expectations in Elizabethan Politics
Elizabeth
He then said that this King would marry me but would not expect to share my bed more than two or three times a year.
Dudley
As much as that?
Elizabeth
Well, he...he is enraptured.
Dudley
Naturally.
Elizabeth
But... his affairs would otherwise keep him in Spain.
Dudley
Then the King is a fool. What could ever be important enough to keep him from your bed?
Elizabeth
Robert, you should not say such things.
Dudley
Then I shall only think them.
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Ruthlessness in Leadership and Statecraft
Sir Francis Walsingham
Madam, if I may. A prince should never flinch from being blamed for acts of ruthlessness which are necessary for safeguarding the state and their own person. You must take these things so much to heart that you do not fear to strike. Even the very nearest that you have if they be implicated.
[to Elizabeth]
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Concerns Over England's Vulnerability and Readiness
Cecil
Your Majesty has inherited a most parlous and degenerate state. It's threatened from abroad by France and Spain and is weaker in men, monies and riches than I have ever known it.
Elizabeth
What are you saying?
Cecil
Madam, your treasury is empty. The Navy is run-down, there is no standing army, and no munitions. There is not a fortress that could withstand a single shot.
Elizabeth
I have no desire for war, sir.
Cecil
But that is not the end of it. Apart from abroad, here at home there are those who wish Your Majesty ill. Mary of Scots has already laid claim to your throne, and Norfolk...Norfolk covets it relentlessly. Madam, until you marry and produce an heir, you will find no security.
Elizabeth
I do not see why a woman need marry at all.
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Conflict of Authority and Independence
Walsingham
I regret to inform Your Majesty of our miserable defeat in Scotland. The Bishops still demand Your Majesty's removal. They find support in every quarter. Alas, Madam, we are come already to catastrophe.
Elizabeth
How dare you come into my presence! Why do you follow me here?
Walsingham
It is my business to protect Your Majesty, against all things.
Elizabeth
I do not need protection. I need to be left alone!
Walsingham
Majesty...
Elizabeth
They should never have been sent to Scotland. My father would not have made such a mistake. I have been proved unfit to rule. That is what you all think, is it not, Walsingham?
Walsingham
It is not for me to judge you.
Elizabeth
Why did they send children? Why did they not send proper reinforcements?
Walsingham
The Bishops would not let them. They spoke against it in the pulpits.
Elizabeth
Then...they are speaking against their Queen.
Walsingham
Madam, the Bishops are against you and have no fear of you. They do not expect you to survive.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Facing the Reality of Mortality
Elizabeth
Tonight I think I die.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Uncertainty of War
Elizabeth
I do not like wars. They have uncertain outcomes.
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A Transformation of Identity and Purity
Elizabeth
Kat...I have become a virgin.
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Tensions Rise Over Religious Conflict in England
Servant
Your Grace, Protestants are already returning from abroad.
Norfolk
Yes. And have made plans to massacre every Catholic in England. There would be butchery indeed if such a plan were even conceivable.
Norfolk's Man
They say Walsingham will return from France.
Norfolk
Walsingham is nothing! (to servant) Be sure he does not.
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Questioning the Nature of God
Sir Francis Walsingham
Tell me, what is God to you? Has he abandoned you? Is he such a worldly god that he must play at politics in the filth of conspiracy? Is he not divine? Tell me the truth, as if you were face to face with him now. I'm a patient man, Father.
[to a priest he is having tortured]
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A Night for Love and Proposals
Elizabeth
Such piercing eyes! And very indiscreet!
Dudley
My true love has my heart and I have hers. My heart in me keeps her and me in one. My heart in her, her thoughts and senses guide. She loves my heart for once it was her own. I cherish hers because in me it bides. My true love has my heart and I have hers. Marry me.
Elizabeth
On a night such as this, could any woman say "no"?
Dudley
On a night such as this could a Queen say "no"?
Elizabeth
Does not a Queen sit under the same stars as any other woman?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Divine Providence and Its Marvelous Impact
Elizabeth
This is the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes.
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Choosing a Husband: Elizabeth's Dilemma
Elizabeth
Aye, but marry who, your grace? Would you give me some suggestion? For some say France and others Spain, and some cannot abide foreigners at all. So I am not sure how best to please you unless I married one of each.
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A Future Queen's Heartfelt Confession
Dudley
When you are Queen...
Elizabeth
I am not... I am not Queen yet.
Dudley
You will be. Elizabeth, Queen of England. A court to worship you. A country to obey you. Poems written celebrating your beauty. Music composed in your honour, and they will be nothing to you. I will mean nothing to you.
Elizabeth
(Laughs) How could you ever be nothing to me? Robert, you know you are everything to me.
Dudley
All that I am it is you.
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A Declaration of Loyalty and Affection
Dudley
For God's sake, you are still my Elizabeth.
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Marriage and Survival in Elizabeth's Reign
Elizabeth
I narrowly escaped with my life, sir. I cannot now discuss marriage.
Cecil
Forgive me...the one cannot be separated from the other.
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Marriage to England: A Royal Commitment
Elizabeth
Observe, Lord Burghley, I am married...to England.
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A Tense Exchange of Affections and Faith
Anjou
Yes, I am Anjou, yes! I am Anjou. My God! She loves it! And I can't wait... Je le rêve du moment quand nous sommes nus ensemble au lit où je peux caresser votre cuisse et peut-être même votre quinny? Aimeriez-vous cela? I dream of the moment when we are naked together in bed where I can stroke your thigh and perhaps even your quinny? Hm? Would you like that?
[In French; English Translation]
Elizabeth
Remove your hand. Perhaps, Your Grace, we shall think on it, but I am deeply religious.
Anjou
But I am very religious, too. Very religious, yes!
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Tensions Over Loyalty and Leadership in Elizabethan England
Sir Robert Dudley
Remember who you are. Do not be afraid of them.
[to Elizabeth]
Norfolk
She is just a child and yet still you piss yourselves!
[about Elizabeth]
Norfolk
Will you leave your kingdom to a heretic?
[to Mary, on her deathbed, as she refuses to sign a warrant for Elizabeth's execution]
Arundel
War is a sin, but sometimes, a necessary one.
De la Quadra
My lord, what will a man not do for love?
[to Dudley]
Duc d'Anjou
Elizabeth is a witch...a witch...and her servant is the devil!
[in French]
Mary of Guise
Go back to England, and take this to your Queen. Hm? English blood on French colors. Send him back to his Queen, and make sure he remains alive. Tell that bastard Queen not to send children to fight Mary of Guise!
[in French, to herself; turns to her officer]
Sir William Cecil
He is a traitor, and his father before him. Lord Robert's head will end up on a spike, not on the pillow of a Queen.
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The Weight of Responsibility on Conscience
Elizabeth
Each of you must vote according to your conscience. But remember this. In your hands, upon this moment, lies the future happiness of my people, and the peace of this realm. Let that be upon your conscience also.
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Concerns About the Queen's Well-Being
Cecil
Does Her Majesty sleep?
Kat Ashley
Not yet, Sir William. She is... overwrought.
Cecil
I will need you to show me Her Majesty's sheets every morning. I must know all her proper functions.
Kat Ashley
Proper functions, My Lord?
Cecil
Indeed. Her Majesty's body and person are no longer her own property. They belong to the State.
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Conflicted Loyalties and Familial Tensions
Mary
When I look at you I see nothing of the King. Only that whore, your mother. My father never did anything so well as to cut off her head.
Elizabeth
Your Majesty forgets he was also my father.
Mary
Why will you not confess your crimes against me?
Elizabeth
Because, Your Majesty, I have committed none.
Mary
You speak with such sincerity! I see you are still a consummate actress. My husband is gone. They have poisoned my child. They say it is a tumour.
Elizabeth
Madam, you are not well.
Mary
They say this cancer will make you Queen, but they are wrong! Look there! It is your death warrant. All I need do is sign it.
Elizabeth
Mary, if you sign that paper, you will be murdering your own sister.
Mary
You will promise me something? When I am gone, you will do everything in your power to uphold the Catholic faith. Do not take away from the people the consolations of the Blessed Virgin.
Elizabeth
When I am Queen...I promise...to act as my conscience dictates.
Mary
Well, do not think to be Queen at all, then. You may return to your own house at Hatfield, but you will remain there under arrest until I am recovered.
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A Moment of Unlikely Kindness
Arundel
Madam, you are cold.
Elizabeth
I do not need your pity.
Arundel
Accept it, then, for my sake.
Elizabeth
Thank you. I shall not forget this kindness.
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End of Marriage Discussions
Elizabeth
There will be no more talk of marriage.
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A Conversation on Beauty and Worth
Isabel Knollys
No, my lord.
Dudley
Then you should be, or waste all that beauty.
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Reflections on Beauty and Innocence
Walsingham
There is so little beauty in this world, and so much suffering. Do you suppose that is what God had in mind? That is to say if there is a god at all. Perhaps there is nothing in this universe but ourselves. And our thoughts.
Walsingham
Think before you do this. If you must do it, do it now and without regret. But first think, and be certain why it needs to be done.
Walsingham
Come here. Look out there. There is a whole world waiting for you. Innocence is the most precious thing you possess. Lose that and you lose your soul.
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Desire to Avoid Introspection in Others
Elizabeth
I have no desire to make windows into men's souls.
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Addressing Hypocrisy in Personal Relationships
Elizabeth
I do not think you should lecture me on that my lord, since you yourself have been twice divorced. And are now upon your third wife!.
[on marriage; Opposing ministers laugh uproariously]
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Confession Under Duress
Elizabeth
A man will confess to anything...under torture.
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Caution in Leadership and Decision-Making
Sir Francis Walsingham
I say a prince should rather be slow to take action and should watch that he does not come to be afraid of his own shadow.
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Understanding Women's Secrets Through Metaphor
Anjou
The Queen is very intimate with Lord Robert, no? With me she plays the shrew. With him the lover? Her life depends on the feelings of my heart, yes?
Monsieur de Foix
She is a woman, Sire. They say one thing but mean another. No man can unlock their secrets.
Anjou
(In French) Unless they have a very big key! Yes! A VERY BIG KEY!
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The Dead Hold No Titles
Sir Francis Walsingham
] The dead have no titles.
[[To Norfolk]
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