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Quotations about king
Note that not all quotations have been tagged, so the Search function may find additional quotations on this topic.
There is no fellowship inviolate,
no faith is kept, when kingship is concerned.[Nulla sancta societas
Nec fides regni est.]Quintus Ennius (239-169 BC) Roman poet, writer
Fragment 402-3 [tr. Miller]
(Source)
Quoted in Cicero, De Officiis, Book 1, ch. 8, sec. 26 (scaen. 404 Vahlen), speaking of Julius Caesar.
Alt. trans.:
- "To kingship belongs neither sacred fellowship nor faith."
- "No society is sacred, nor faith of empire." [tr. Johnson (1828)]
- "There is no holy bond, and no fidelity / 'Twixt those who share a throne." [Source]
- "Where the throne's shared, there cannot be good faith." [Source]
Never strike a king unless you are sure you shall kill him.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (Sep. 1843)
(Source)
In addition to the noted source, see also here. However, according to the reliable Ralph Keyes, the quotation is spurious. Keyes also suggests an inspiration from the 17th Century English proverb, "Whosoever draws his sword against the prince must throw the scabbard away."
A variant, "When you strike at a king you must kill him," is attributed to Emerson by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in Max Lerner, The Mind and Faith of Justice Holmes (1943).
Punctuality is the politeness of kings.
[L’exactitude est la politesse des rois.]
Louis XVIII (1755-1824) French monarch (1814-1824) ["Louis the Desired"]
(Attributed)
Attributed in Souvenirs de J. Lafitte (1844)
King David and King Solomon
Led merry merry lives,
With many, many lady friends,
And many many wives;
But when old age crept over them —
With many, many qualms! —
King Solomon wrote the Proverbs
And King David wrote the Psalms.James Ball Naylor (1860-1945) American physician, writer, poet, politician
“King David and King Solomon” (1935)
SIR BEDEVERE: How do know so much about swallows?
KING ARTHUR: Well, you have to know these things when you’re a king, you know.Monty Python (contemp.) British comedy troupe
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
When I was a fighting man, the kettle-drum they beat,
The people scattered gold-dust before my horse’s feet;
But now I am a great king, the people hound my track
With poison in my wine-cup, and daggers at my back.Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) American author
“The Phoenix on the Sword” (1932)
