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Royalty: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations
Ten poor men sleep in peace on one straw heap, as Saadi sings, But the immensest empire is too narrow for two kings.— WM. R. ALGER — Oriental Poetry.
Those graceful groves that shade the plain, Where Tiber rolls majestic to the main, And flattens, as he runs, the fair campagne.— OVID — Metamorphoses. Bk. XIV.
C. Æneas Arrives in Italy. L. 8. Sir Sam'l Garth's trans. Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears Into the channel, till the lowest stream Do kiss the most exalted shores of all. Julius Cæsar. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 63. Yvette. O lovely river of Yvette! O darling stream! on balanced wings The wood-birds sang the chansonnette That here a wandering poet sings.— LONGFELLOW — To the River Yvette. St. 5.
Many a crown Covers bald foreheads.— E. B. BROWNING — Aurora Leigh. Bk. I. L. 754.
God bless the King-I mean the faith's defender; God bless (no harm in blessing) the pretender; But who the pretender is, or who is King- God bless us all-that's quite another thing.— JOHN BYROM — Miscellaneous Pieces.
God save our gracious king! Long live our noble king! God save the king!— HENRY CAREY — God Save the King.
Every noble crown is, and on Earth will forever be, a crown of thorns.— CARLYLE — Past and Present. Bk. III. Ch. VIII.
'Tis a very fine thing to be father-in-law To a very magnificent three-tailed bashaw. GEORGE COLMAN (The Younger)-— Shakespeare — Blue Beard. Act III. Sc. 4.
Here lies our sovereign lord, the king, Whose word no man relies on, Who never said a foolish thing, And never did a wise one. Said by a Courtier of Charles II. (ROCHESTER?) To which the King replied, "That is very true, for my words are my own. My actions are my minister's." And kind as kings upon their coronation day. the— DRYDEN — Fables. The Hind and Panther. Pt. I. L. 271.
A man's a man, But when you see a king, you see the work Of many thousand men.— GEORGE ELIOT — Spanish Gypsy. Bk. I.
S. There was a king of Thule, Was faithful till the grave, To whom his mistress dying, A golden goblet gave.— GOETHE — Faust. The King of Thule.
Bayard Taylor's trans. As yourselves your empires fall, And every kingdom hath a grave.— WILLIAM HABINGTON — Night.
The rule Of the many is not well. One must be chief In war and one the king. C.— HOMER — Iliad. Bk. II. L. 253.
Bryant's trans. On the king's gate the moss grew gray; The king came not. They call'd him dead; And made his eldest son, one day, Slave in his father's stead.— HELEN HUNT JACKSON — Coronation.
God gives not kings the stile of Gods in vaine, For on his throne his sceptre do they sway; And as their subjects ought them to obey, So kings should feare and serve their God againe.— KING JAMES — Sonnet Addressed to his
son, Prince Henry. The trappings of a monarchy would set up an ordinary commonwealth.— SAM'L JOHNSON — Life of Milton.
A prince without letters is a Pilot without eyes. All his government is groping.— BEN JONSON — Discoveries.
Illiteratus Princeps. Princes that would their people should do well Must at themselves begin, as at the head; For men, by their example, pattern out Their imitations, and regard of laws: A virtuous court a world to virtue draws.— BEN JONSON — Cynthia's Revels. Act V. Sc. 3.
They say Princes learn no art truly, but the art of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a Prince as soon as his groom.— BEN JONSON — Discoveries.
Illiteratus Princeps. They [Americans] equally detest the pageantry of a king and the supercilious hypocrisy of a bishop.— JUNIUS — Letter XXXV. Dec. 19, 1769.
Ah! vainest of all things Is the gratitude of kings.— LONGFELLOW — Belisarius. St. 8.
A crown, Golden in show, is but a wreath of thorns, Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights To him who wears the regal diadem.— MILTON — Paradise Regained. Bk. II. L. 458.
His fair large front and eye sublime declared Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks Round from his parted forelock manly hung Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad.— MILTON — Paradise Lost. Bk. IV. L. 300.
'Tis so much to be a king, that he only is so by being so.— MONTAIGNE — Essays. Of the
Inconveniences of Greatness. A crown! what is it? It is to bear the miseries of a people! To hear their murmurs, feel their discontents, And sink beneath a load of splendid care!— HANNAH MORE — Daniel. Pt. VI.
The King of France went up the hill, With twenty thousand men; The King of France came down the hill, And ne'er went up again. DICK TARLTON'S Song. In a tract called PIGGE'S Corantol; or, News from the North. Pub. London, 1642. What is a king? a man condemn'd to bear The public burthen of the nation's care.— PRIOR — Solomon. Bk. III. L. 275.
A merry monarch, scandalous and poor.— EARL OF ROCHESTER — On the King.
I am called the richest man in all the Christian world, The sun ne'er sets on my dominions. S.— SCHILLER — Don Carlos. Act I. Sc. 6.
For monarchs seldom sigh in vain. ScoTT-Marmion. Canto V. St. 9. O Richard! O my king! The universe forsakes thee!— MICHEL JEAN SEDAINE — Sung at the
Dinner given to the French Soldiers in the Opera Salon at Versailles, Oct. 1, 1789. A substitute shines brightly as a king Until a king be by, and then his state Empties itself, as doth an inland brook Into the main of waters.— Shakespeare — Merchant of Venice. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 94.
Ay, every inch a king.— Shakespeare — King Lear. Act IV. Sc. 6. L. 109.
Every subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's soul is his own.— Shakespeare — Henry V. Act IV. Sc. 1. L. 186.
His legs bestrid the ocean; his rear'd arm Crested the world: his voice was propertied As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends; But when he meant to quail and shake the orb, He was as rattling thunder.— Shakespeare — Antony and Cleopatra. Act V. Sc. 2. L. 28.
Let us sit upon the ground And tell sad stories of the death of kings: How some have been depos'd, some slain in war, Some haunted by the ghosts they have depos'd, Some poison'd by their wives, some sleeping kill'd, All murder'd.— Shakespeare — Richard II. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 155.
O, how wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors! There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, More pangs and fears than wars and women have; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, Never to hope again.— Shakespeare — Henry VIII. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 366.
She had all the royal makings of a queen; As holy oil, Edward Confessor's crown, The rod, and bird of peace, and all such emblems Laid nobly on her.— Shakespeare — Henry VIII. Act IV. Sc. 1. L. 87.
The gates of monarchs Are arch'd so high that giants may jet through And keep their impious turbans on.— Shakespeare — Cymbeline. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 4.
The king-becoming graces, As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, I have no relish of them.— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 91.
There's such divinity doth hedge a king, That treason can but peep to what it would.— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act IV. Sc. 5. L. 123.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.— Shakespeare — Henry IV. Pt. II. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 31.
We are enforc'd to farm our royal realm; The revenue whereof shall furnish us For our affairs in hand.— Shakespeare — Richard II. Act I. Sc. 4. L. 45.
Yet looks he like a king; behold, his eye, As bright as is the eagle's, lightens forth Controlling majesty.— Shakespeare — Richard II. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 68.
Kings are like stars-they rise and set, they have The worship of the world, but no repose.— SHELLEY — Hellas. Mahmud to Hassan. L. 195.
Hail, glorious edifice, stupendous work! God bless the Regent, and the Duke of York!— HORACE AND JAMES SMITH — Rejected Addresses. Loyal Effusion. L. 1.
An nescis longos regibus esse manus? Knowest thou not that kings have long hands?— OVID — Heroides. XVII. 166.
Est aliquid validâ sceptra tenere manu. it is something to hold the scepter with a firm hand. OVID Remedia Amoris.
La clémence est la plus belle marque Qui fasse à l'univers connaître un vrai monarque. Clemency is the surest proof of a true monarch.— CORNEILLE — Cinna. IV. 4.
La cour est comme un édifice bâti de marbre; je veux dire qu'elle est composée d'hommes fort durs mais fort polis. The court is like a palace built of marble; I mean that it is made up of very hard but very polished people.— LA BRUYÈRE — Les Caractères. VIII.
Le premier qui fut roi, fut un soldat heureux; Qui sert bien son pays, n'a pas besoin d'aïeux. The first king was a successful soldier ; He who serves well his country has no need of ancestors.— VOLTAIRE — Mérope. I. 3.
Le roi règne et ne gouverne pas. The king reigns but does not govern. THIERS, in the National Newspaper, July 1st, 1830. L'état!-c'est moi! The state!-it is I! Attributed to LOUIS XIV. of France. Malheureuse France! Malheureux roi! Unhappy France! Unhappy king!— ETIENNE BÉQUET — Heading in the
Journal des Débats, when CHARLES X. was driven from the throne. Tout citoyen est roi sous un roi citoyen. Every citizen is king under a citizen king.— FAVART — Les Trois Sultanes. II. 3.
Veuve d'un peuple-roi, mais reine encore du monde. [Rome] Widow of an imperial people, but still queen of the world. n. GILBERT. Wenn die Könige bau'n, haben die Kärrner zu thun. When kings are building, draymen have something to do.— SCHILLER — Kant und Seine Ausleger.
S. Il plaît à tout le monde et ne saurait se plaire. He [Moliére] pleases every one but can not please himself.— BOILEAU — Satires. II.
Mach' es Wenigen recht; vielen gefallen ist schlimm. Satisfy a few; to please many is bad.— SCHILLER — Votivtafeln.