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Monarchs Quotes

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Monarchs Quotes

“At the time your book was written, the full story of the monarch migration was unknown to humanity." "When did they find it out?" Preston asked. The answer, to Dellarobia's astonishment, was within Ovid's lifetime. He had been just a bit older than Preston when the discovery was announced in the National Geographic, in 1976. A Canadian scientist chased the mystery his whole life, devising a tag that would stick to butterfly wings, recruiting volunteers to help track them, losing the trail many times. And then one winter's day, as an old man on shaky legs, he climbed a mountain in Michoacan to see what must have looked like his dream of heaven... Ovid could still quote passages of the article from memory: They carpeted the ground in their tremulous legions. He said he remembered exactly where he was when he read that article, and how he felt. "Where were you?" "Outside the post office, sitting on a lobster crate. I spent a lot of Saturdays there. My mother let me read the magazines before they went to their subscribers. I was so excited by the photos in that article, I ran all the way down Crown Street, all the way to West End and out a sandy road called Fortuna to the sea. I must have picked up a stick somewhere, because I remember jumping up and whacking every branch I passed, leaving a trail of flying leaves. When I got to the sea I didn't know what to do, so I threw the stick in Perseverance Bay and ran back. It was the happiest day of my life." Dellarobia wanted, of course, to know why. "Why," he repeated, thinking about it. "It was just like any schoolboy. I thought everything in the world was already discovered. Already in my books. A lot of dead stuff that put me to sleep. That was the day I understood the world is still living.”

InspirationScienceMonarchsButterflies
Book:Flight Behavior
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“And what does it amount to?" said Satan, with his evil chuckle. "Nothing at all. You gain nothing; you always come out where you went in. For a million years the race has gone on monotonously propagating itself and monotonously reperforming this dull nonsense--to what end? No wisdom can guess! Who gets a profit out of it? Nobody but a parcel of usurping little monarchs and nobilities who despise you; would feel defiled if you touched them; would shut the door in your face if you proposed to call; whom you slave for, fight for, die for, and are not ashamed of it, but proud; whose existence is a perpetual insult to you and you are afraid to resent it; who are mendicants supported by your alms, yet assume toward you the airs of benefactor toward beggar; who address you in the language of master to slave, and are answered in the language of slave to master; who are worshiped by you with your mouth, while in your heart--if you have one--you despise yourselves for it. The first man was a hypocrite and a coward, qualities which have not yet failed in his line; it is the foundation upon which all civilizations have been built.”

ExistenceMastersCivilizationHypocrisyCowardiceMonarchsSlaves
Book:The Mysterious Stranger
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“Pjäsen handlade, sa Konungen till mig, om att ondskan funnes i så hög grad hos dessa människor vid hovet att de liknade apor eller djävlar; de gladde sig åt andras olyckor och sörjde över deras framgångar, detta vore det som druidernas tid kallades Kannibalism, Anthropophagie. Därför befunno vi oss bland Kannibaler.”

HistoryQuoteRoyalMonarchyMonarchsSwedenSwedishDenmarkLivläkarens BesökThe Visit Of The Royal Physician
Book:The Royal Physician's Visit
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“Don’t it s’prise you de way dem kings carries on, Huck?” “No,” I says, “it don’t.” “Why don’t it, Huck?” “Well, it don’t, because it’s in the breed. I reckon they’re all alike.” “But, Huck, dese kings o’ ourn is reglar rapscallions; dat’s jist what dey is; dey’s reglar rapscallions.” “Well, that’s what I’m a-saying; all kings is mostly rapscallions, as fur as I can make out.”

KingsRulersMonarchsRoguesScoundrelsScalawagsRapscallions
Book:The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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“Within Germany, unrest fermented after Germany lost World War I, and the German people, including the workers and the military, detested the idea that they would be held accountable for the war and would have to pay reparations to their former enemies. On November 3, 1918, the Kaiserliche Marine, German Imperial Navy, had an internal revolt between the officers and the sailors, known as the Kiel mutiny. On November 6th, the revolt reached Wilhelmshaven, triggering a revolution throughout Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II had proven to be an ineffective wartime leader and lost the support of his Generals. However, it was when he lost the support of his beloved Navy that he abdicated and fled to the Netherlands. This act heralded the end of the German monarchy. Living in exile in Huis Doorn, in the Netherlands, Wilhelm II died on June 3, 1941, of an embolism.”

MonarchsGerman HistorySuppressed I Rise
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, "Suppresed I Rise"
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“Who has a book of all that monarchs do, He's more secure to keep it shut than shown; For vice repeated is like the wand'ring wind, Blows dust in others' eye, to spread itself; And yet the end of all is bought thus dear, The breath is gone, and the sore eyes see clear To stop the air would hurt them.”

BookEndsEyeHurtGoneClearAirWindBreathsDearBlowVicesSpreadRingsDustSecureMonarchsWandsSore Eyes
Book:The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare: With the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators
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“In the 20th century, the position of the monarch as head of the Church of England was given a meaning which it never had before. You took the fact that the monarch was head of the Church of England to mean that the British monarchy was itself a religious or moral institution and the monarchy became a symbol of national public morality.”

MeanFactsGivenChurchReligiousMoralCenturyPositionMoralityEnglandInstitutionsBritishSymbols20th CenturyMonarchyMonarchsChurch Of EnglandBritish Monarchy
Author:David Starkey
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“And when children begin to use their reason, fathers and mothers should take great pains to fill their hearts with the fear of God. This the good Queen Blanche did most earnestly by St. Louis, her son: witness her oft-repeated words, "My son, I would sooner see you die than guilty of a mortal sin;" words which sank so deeply into the saintly monarch's heart, that he himself said there was no day on which they did not recur to his mind, and strengthen him in treading God's ways.”

WayShouldMindHeartChildrenSaidReasonUsePainMotherDiesFatherSinSonGuiltyWitnessMortalsQueensMy SonMonarchsTreadingMortal SinBlanche
Author:Saint Francis de Sales
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“In pious times, ere priest-craft did begin, Before polygamy was made a sin; When man, on many, multipli'd his kind, Ere one to one was cursedly confin'd: When Nature prompted, and no Law deni'd Promiscuous use of concubine and bride; Then, Israel's monarch, after Heaven's own heart, His vigorous warmth did variously impart To wives and slaves: and, wide as his command, Scatter'd his Maker's image through the land.”

MenHeartKindMadeUseLawHeavenSinWifeLandSlaveIsraelWideCommandCraftsPriestsMakersWarmthBridesVigorousPiousImpartMonarchsPolygamyPromiscuousConcubines
Author:John Dryden
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“Korell is that frequent phenomenon in history : the republic whose ruler has every attribute of the absolute monarch but the name. It therefore enjoyed the usual despotism unrestrained even by those two moderating influences in the legitimate monarchies: regal "honor" and court etiquette.”

TwoNamesInfluenceHonorAbsolutesCourtEnjoyedPhenomenonRepublicAttributesUsualRulersEtiquetteMonarchyDespotismMonarchsRegal
Book:Great Tales of the Golden Age of Science Fiction
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“I shall always rebel against any attempt to reduce a human being to a kind of mannequin, whose deeds and questions would be comprehensible like the deeds and gestures of monarchs recorded day after day in official communiques. Six months of a life cannot catalogue the vitality, the activity of an individual; only death stops development and then, what is important is the overall meaning of a life, not the details of that life, edifying to some, scandalous to others.”

HumansKindImportantWould BeIndividualHuman BeingsMonthsDevelopmentActivitySixDetailsDeedsOfficialsRebelGesturesSix MonthsVitalityMonarchsCataloguesScandalous
Author:Louis Aragon
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“In a democracy, every ordinary citizen is effectively a king--but a king in a constitutional democracy, a monarch who decides only formally, whose function is merely to sign off on measures proposed by an executive administration. This is why the problem with democratic rituals is homologous to the great problem of constitutional monarchy: how to protect the dignity of the king? How to maintain the appearance that the king effectively makes decisions, when we all know this not to be true?”

KnowsProblemDecisionDemocracyKingsCitizensProtectOrdinaryDignityFunctionDemocraticAppearanceBeing TrueAdministrationExecutivesRitualMonarchyMonarchsOrdinary CitizensConstitutional MonarchySigning Off
Book:First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
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“Turn the anger of the Almighty against the godless Turks and Barbarians who despise Christ the Lord.....In the royal city of the east, they have slain the successor of Constantine and his people, desecrated the temples of the Lord, defiled the noble church of Justinian with their Mohometan abominations. Each success, will only be a stepping stone until he has mastered all the Western Monarchs, overthrow the Christian Faith, and imposed the law of his false prophet on the whole world”

PeopleWorldWholeChristianLawTurnsChristChurchCitiesLordStonesWesternEastNobleWhole WorldProphetTemplesDespiseAlmightyRoyalChristian FaithBarbariansMonarchsStepping StonesSuccessorsAbominationConstantineFalse ProphetsJustinian
Author:Pope Pius II
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“There are important arguments to be made about the relative merits of an hereditary or an elected head of state: but not at the level of the human frailties of particular monarchs or presidents. No one seriously contends that the American presidency should be abolished because Bill Clinton is a self-confessed adulterer. So why should the abolition of the British monarchy be contemplated because the same is true of Prince Charles?”

ShouldHumansMadeImportantSelfStatesPresidentLevelsParticularArgumentBillsClintonBritishMeritRelativePresidencyMonarchyAbolitionMonarchsFrailtyBritish HistoryHereditaryHead Of StateHuman FrailtiesBritish Monarchy
Book:History in Our Time
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“More attention should have been given to the fundamental transformation which took place during Queen Victoria's reign, from ruling sovereign to constitutional monarch. Again, gender mattered. If Albert had lived, it seems clear that he would have resisted that development much more tenaciously, which the gradual emasculation (and feminization) of monarchy was probably more easily accomplished when a woman was on the throne.”

IfsShouldHas BeensSeemsGivenAttentionClearDevelopmentShould HaveTransformationFundamentalsGenderQueensAccomplishedThronesSovereignReignRulingMonarchyShould Have BeenMonarchsVictoriaBritish HistoryEmasculation
Author:David Cannadine
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“Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually born to succeed. King George VI was 41 when the abdication of Edward VIII propelled him suddenly and unexpectedly to take up the crown; and Queen Elizabeth II spent her first decade with no inkling thay she herself might one day have to reign. Taken together, these examples suggest that the best preparation for the job of sovereign is not to be prepared for it at all, ir not to be too well prepared for it, or for too long.”

FirstsWellsLongHas BeensShowsMightTogetherJobsBornTakenRecordsCenturyExampleKingsOne DaySucceedPreparedDecadesPreparationQueensCrownsBe PreparedSovereignReign20th CenturyMonarchsParadoxicalIrsBritish HistoryQueen ElizabethAbdicationElizabeth Ii
Author:David Cannadine
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“The reason territorial monarchs failed time after time against maritime powers was not that absolutist, non-consensual governments were incapable of building great fleets in peace - quite the reverse - but that they were unable to fund them in the crises of war. Mainly this was because they were forced to divert resources from the fleet to their armies, to fight territorial rivals frequently financed by their maritime enemy from the profits of sea trade.”

WarReasonGovernmentFightingEnemySeaBuildingResourcesArmyCrisisTradeProfitFundReverseIncapableRivalsMonarchsTerritorialMaritime
Author:Peter Padfield
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“Wealth from trade was the mainspring of Western material advance; the visible agents of change were great guns. These came of age in Europe in the 15th century. On land their potency in reducing castle walls favoured central over local power, since in general only monarchs could afford siege-trains; so nation-states were consolidated and extended into great territorial empires. At sea, guns transformed sailing ships into mobile castles virtually impregnable to opponents who lacked equally powerful ordnance. With the ocean-going gunned warship, western Europe began to extend around the globe.”

StatesAgeNationsWealthPowerfulSeaLandCenturyMaterialsWallOceanGunEuropeTradeTrainWesternLocalsShipsAgentsOpponentsVisibleEmpiresTransformedGlobesSailingCastlesMobileReducingMonarchsSiegePotencyTerritorialSailing ShipsWestern EuropeWarshipsOrdnanceCastle Walls
Author:Peter Padfield
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“It is always a joy to meet an American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believes that the folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.”

WorldYearsBelieveChildrenBookCountryJoyLanguageStarsGoneCitizensOur ChildrenUnionsWideMinistersFollyFlagsMonarchsStripes
Book:Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
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“After Darwin, God's role changes from being the designer of all creatures great and small to being the designer of the laws of nature, from which natural selection can unfold, to being perhaps just the chooser of the laws. By the time God's role has been so diminished, he becomes a bit like a constitutional monarch, presiding ceremonially but not having any more work to do. That's a place for God if it makes people comfortable to keep God as the presider over the universe. I suppose that is satisfying for many.”

PeopleIfsHas BeensLawUniverseBitsNaturalRolesCreaturesComfortableDesignerSatisfyingSelectionLaws Of NatureNatural SelectionMonarchs
Author:Daniel Dennett
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“Monarchy can easily be "debunked," but watch the faces, mark well the debunkers. These are the men whose taproot in Eden has been cut: whom no rumour of the polyphony, the dance, can reach - men to whom pebbles laid in a row are more beautiful than an arch. Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes or film stars instead: For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison.”

MenWellsHas BeensBeautifulFilmFacesSpiritualStarsWatchesCuttingHe ManKingsMarkAthleteDenyPoisonHonourForbiddenMillionaireMonarchyEdenMonarchsPebblesArchesRumoursSpiritual NatureFilm StarsConstitutional MonarchyPolyphony
Author:C. S. Lewis
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“If often happens too, both in courts and in cabinets, that there are two things going on together,--a main plot and an under-plot; and he that understands only one of them will, in all probability, be the dupe of both. A mistress may rule a monarch, but some obscure favorite may rule the mistress.”

IfsMayTwoHappensTogetherCourtTwo ThingsPlotObscureProbabilityIntrigueMistressCabinetsMonarchsDupes
Book:Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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