"He that plays the king shall be welcome- his Majesty shall have tribute of me; the adventurous knight shall use his foil and target; the lover shall not sigh gratis; the humorous man shall end his part in peace; the clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickle o' th' sere; and the lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt fort."
Kings quotes
Kings
3.8K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Kings
Browse quotes that often appear alongside kings — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Kings quotes (page 33 of 192)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"The color of the king doth come and go, Between his purpose and his conscience, Like heralds 'twixt two dreadful battles set: His passion is so ripe, it needs must break."
"No might nor greatness in mortality Can censure 'scape; back- wounding calumny The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue?"
"Such thanks as fits a king's remembrance."
"Here I and sorrows sit; Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it."
"O, let me kiss that hand! KING LEAR: Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality."
"872, Ivar, King of the Northmen of all Ireland and Britain , ended his life." He had conquered Mercia and East Anglia. He had captured the major stronghold of the kingdom of Strathclyde, Dumbarton. Laden with loot and seemingly invincible, he settled in Dublin and died there peacefully two years later. The pious chroniclers report that he "slept in Christ." Thus it may be that he had the best of both worlds."
"That I was not dueling with the king, but trying to communicate with him, was itself an incommunicable fact."
"When the king asked him what he meant by infesting the sea, the pirate defiantly replied: The same as you do when you infest the whole world; but because I do it with a little ship I am called a robber, and because you do it with a great fleet, you are an emperor."
"It is the end. But of what? The end of France? No. The end of kings? Yes."
"My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing . . . Long may our land be bright, With freedom's holy light; Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King."
"He is only rich who owns the day. There is no king, rich man, fairy, or demon who possesses such power as that."
"We must have kings, we must have nobles; nature is always providing such in every society; only let us have the real instead of the titular. In every society some are born to rule, and some to advise. The chief is the chief all the world over, only not his cap and plume. It is only this dislike of the pretender which makes men sometimes unjust to the true and finished man."
"King old ladies assure us that cats are often the best judges of character. A cat will always to to a good man, they say."
"He hated games they made the world look too simple. Chess, in particular, had always annoyed him. It was the dumb way the pawns went off and slaughtered their fellow pawns while the king lounged about doing nothing. If only the pawns would've united ... the whole board could've been a republic in about a dozen moves."
"Ridcully was to management what King Herod was to the Bethlehem Playgroup Association."
"Bishops move diagonally. That's why they often turn up where the kings don't expect them to be."
"Los Padres have everything and the people have nothing; 'tis the masterpiece of reason and justice. For my part, I know nothing so divine as Los Padres who make war on Kings of Spain and Portugal and in Europe act as their confessors; who here kill Spaniards and at Madrid send them to Heaven."
"The actor is too prone to exaggerate his powers; he wants to play Hamlet when his appearance is more suitable to King Lear."
"Sing, my tongue, the Saviour's glory, Of His Flesh, the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our Immortal King, Destined, for the world's redemption, From a noble Womb to spring."