Quotessence
Home / Topics / Noblemen Quotes

Noblemen Quotes

Browse 40 quotes about Noblemen.

Noblemen Quotes

“In medieval times, contrary to popular belief, most knights were bandits, mercenaries, lawless brigands, skinners, highwaymen, and thieves. The supposed chivalry of Charlemagne and Roland had as much to do with the majority of medieval knights as the historical Jesus with the temporal riches and hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, or any church for that matter. Generally accompanied by their immoral entourage or servants, priests, and whores, they went from tourney to tourney like a touring rock and roll band, sports team, or gang of South Sea pirates. Court to court, skirmish to skirmish, rape to rape. Fighting as the noble's substitution for work.”

JesusPriestsThievesKnightsCatholic ChurchChivalryPiratesBanditsNoblemenServantsKnighthoodMercenariesHighwaymenMedieval LifeSports TeamsBrigandsCharlemagneSkirmishesRock And Roll Bands
Book:All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well
Create image

“Civilized society is one huge bourgeoisie: no nobleman dares now shock his greengrocer.”

HugeCivilizationDareShockCivilizedBourgeoisieCivilized SocietyNoblemen
Book:The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Lectures, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more
Create image

“Nature's noblemen are everywhere,--in town and out of town, gloved and rough-handed, rich and poor. Prejudice against a lord, because he is a lord, is losing the chance of finding a good fellow, as much as prejudice against a ploughman because he is a ploughman.”

ChancePoorLordRichFindingsLosingPrejudiceTownsFellowsRoughNobilityRich And PoorNoblemen
Book:Out-doors at Idlewild: Or, The Shaping of a Home on the Banks of the Hudson
Create image

“Never let the estate decrease in your hands. It is only by such resolutions as that that English noblemen and English gentlemen can preserve their country. I cannot bear to see property changing hands.”

CountryHandsSocietyBearsPropertyPreservesGentlemanResolutionEstatesDecreaseNoblemenEnglish Gentleman
Book:Anthony Trollope: The Chronicles of Barsetshire & The Palliser Novels (Unabridged): The Warden + The Barchester Towers + Doctor Thorne + Framley Parsonage + The Small House at Allington + The Last Chronicle of Barset + Can You Forgive Her? + The Prime Minister + Eustace Diamonds...
Create image

“There is often no material difference between the enjoyment of the highest ranks and those of the rudest stages of society. If the life of many a young English nobleman, and an Iroquois in the forest, or an Arab in the desert are compared, it will be found that their real sources of happiness are nearly the same.”

IfsRealYoungFoundDifferencesStageMaterialsSourceCivilizationHighestForestsDesertEnjoymentSource Of HappinessNoblemenIroquois
Author:Sir Archibald Alison, 2nd Baronet
Create image

“What is it, in your opinion, to be a great nobleman? It is to be master of several objects that men covet, and thus to be able to satisfy the wants and the desires of many. It is these wants and these desires that attract them towards you, and that make them submit to you: were it not for these, they would not even look at you; but they hope, by these services... to obtain from you some part of the good which they desire, and of which they see that you have the disposal.”

MenWantLooksAbleDesireOpinionObjectsMastersSubmitNoblemen
Book:Thoughts
Create image

“When I was young, we thought that Oscar Wilde was a great nobleman who had thrown his life away for love. Nothing could be less true. He slept with East Enders who were procured for him by Lord Alfred Douglas. He knew them only 'in Braille' - the curtains were never drawn back in the rooms in Oxford where he met those boys. It was the most sordid life you can imagine. And he was bleating about love and dragging the fair name of Mr. Plato into the trial - after a life like that?”

YoungNamesRoomsLordBoysImagineMetsFairsEastTrialsThrownOscarsPlatoCurtainsOxfordWildeEnderNoblemenBraille
Author:Quentin Crisp
Create image

“It hurt the economic historians, the Marxists and the fabians, to admit that the Ten Hour Bill, the basic piece of 19th century legislation, came down from the top, out of aa nobleman's private feelings about the Gospel, or that the abolition of the slave trade was achieved, not through the operation of some "law" of profit and loss, but peurlet as the result of tyhe new humanitarianism of the Evangelicals.”

FeelingsLawHoursHurtLossResultsPiecesEconomicCenturyTenTradeBillsSlaveProfitOperationsHistorianIt HurtsLegislationHumanitarianism19th CenturyAbolitionMarxistSlave TradeNoblemenProfit And Loss
Author:Barbara Tuchman
Create image

“And what an example of the power of dress young Oliver Twist was! Wrapped in the blanket which had hitherto formed his only covering, he might have been the child of a nobleman or a beggar;—it would have been hard for the haughtiest stranger to have fixed his station in society. But now he was enveloped in the old calico robes, that had grown yellow in the same service; he was badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at once—a parish child—the orphan of a workhouse—the humble, half-starved drudge—to be cuffed and buffeted through the world, despised by all, and pitied by none.”

WorldChildrenHas BeensHardMightYoungHalfExampleDressesHumbleStrangerFixedStationsYellowMight Have BeenTwistsBlanketCoveringBeggarDespisedOrphanRobesParishNoblemenWorkhousesOliver Twist
Author:Charles Dickens
Create image

“My son, be worthy of your noble name, worthily borne by your ancestors for over five hundred years. Remember it’s by courage, and courage alone, that a nobleman makes his way nowadays. Don’t be afraid of opportunities, and seek out adventures. My son, all I have to give you is fifteen ecus, my horse, and the advice you’ve just heard. Make the most of these gifts, and have a long, happy life.”

WayGivingYearsLongRememberOpportunityNamesFiveHeardAdviceAdventureSonHundredHorseWorthyNobleMy SonHappy LifeAncestorFifteenNoblemen
Author:Alexandre Dumas
Create image

“I can't keep my head above water one minute to the next: it's not just the parties and the goo-gooing with what's-her-name, I've got the decide how long the Five Hundredth Anniversary Parade is going to be and where does it start and when does it start and which nobleman gets to march in front of which other nobleman so that everyone's still speaking to me at the end of it, plus I've got a wife to murder and a country to frame for it, plus I've got to get the war going once that's all happened, and all this is stuff I've got to do myself. Here's what it all comes down to: I'm just swamped, Ty.”

LongDoeStillsI CanWarEndsCountryNextNamesStuffWaterPartyFiveWifeHappenedMinutesFrontsMurderMarchPlusParadesOne MinuteNoblemen
Author:William Goldman
Create image

“You’re a slave? (Eleni) I was. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. (Acheron) Take your cloak off and sit, Acheron. You’ve done nothing to apologize for. I admire you all the more for stopping to help us. It’s nothing for a nobleman to do so, yet they seldom bother to help those less fortunate. For a freedman to speak up in defense of another takes great courage and character. What you did is all the more noble and kind, and I would be honored to have you sit at my table with us. (Acheron)”

KindDoneCharacterHelpingWould BeSpeakTablesSlaveSorryDefenseNobleAdmireBotherFortunateApologizingI'm SorryStoppingHonoredCloaksLess FortunateNoblemenAdmire YouThose Less Fortunate
Author:Sherrilyn Kenyon
Create image

“I'm an amalgamation of what I've needed to be. Part scholar, part rebel, part nobleman, part Mistborn, and part soldier. Sometimes I don't even know myself. I had a devil of a time getting all those pieces to work together. And, just when I'm starting to get it figured out, the world up and ends on me.”

KnowsWorldEndsSometimesTogetherPiecesNeededDevilStartingSoldierWorking TogetherRebelScholarNoblemenAmalgamation
Book:Mistborn Trilogy
Create image

“Kelsier smiled. 'It means that you, Vin, are a very special person. You have a power that most high noblemen envy. It is a power that, had you been born an aristocrat, would have made you one of the most deadly and influential people in all of the final empire.' Kelsier leaned forward again. 'But, you weren't born an aristocrat. You're not noble, Vin. You don't have to play by their rules--and that makes you even more powerful.”

PeopleMeanPersonsMadePlayBornPowerfulSpecialFinalsEnvyNobleEmpiresInfluentialNoblemenInfluential PeopleKelsierVery Special Person
Book:The Final Empire: Mistborn Book One
Create image

“A minor fief had risen up against their cruel and avaricious lord, with hundreds of people surrounding his Manor house, threatening to burn it to the ground. The panicked nobleman's message for help was answered by the arrival of a single Ranger. Aghast, the nobleman confronted the solitary cowled figure. 'They sent one Ranger?' he said incredulously. 'One man?' 'How many riots do you have?' the Ranger replied.”

PeopleMenSaidHelpingHouseLordFiguresMessagesOne ManSolitaryMinorsThreateningRiotRisenArrivalsRangersNoblemenAghast
Author:John Flanagan
Create image

“We are being at once wisely aware of our own frivolity if we avoid hitting and whacking and prefer 'striking' and 'smiting'; talk and chat and prefer 'speech' and 'discourse'; well-bred, brilliant, or polite noblemen (visions of snobbery columns in the Press, and fat men on the Riviera) and prefer the 'worthy, brave and courteous men' of long ago.”

IfsMenWellsLongVisionSpeechPressesBraveWorthyBrilliantFatsHittingLong AgoPoliteDiscourseColumnsCourteousSnobberyFrivolityFat ManNoblemen
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
Create image

“The whole point of anti-Semitism has been to create a vulnerable buffer group that can be bribed with some privileges into managing the exploitation of others, and then, when social pressure builds, be blamed and scapegoated, distracting those at the bottom from the crimes of those at the top. Peasants who go on pogrom against their Jewish neighbors won't make it to the nobleman's palace to burn him out and seize the fields. This was the role of Jews in Europe. This has been the role of Jews in the United States, and this is the role of Jews in the Middle East.”

Has BeensStatesWholeSocialUnitedRolesUnited StatesGroupsMiddleCrimeFieldsGoes OnEuropePressureBottomPrivilegeJewEastNeighborVulnerableMiddle EastExploitationPalacesPeasantsAnti SemitismSocial PressureNoblemen
Author:Aurora Levins Morales
Create image

“According to Melissa Mailey, we now live in a world where kings and noblemen rule the roost. And they've turned all of central Europe—our home, now, ours and our children's to come—into a raging inferno. We are surrounded by a Ring of Fire. Well, I've fought forest fires before. So have lots of other men in this room. The best way to fight [such] a fire is to start a counterfire. So my position is simple. I say we start the American Revolution—a hundred and fifty years ahead of schedule!”

MenWorldWayYearsWellsChildrenHomeFightingSimpleRoomsFirePositionRevolutionKingsHundredEuropeOur ChildrenRageRingsBest WayForestsFiftySchedulesAmerican RevolutionInfernoForest FiresMelissaNoblemenRoost
Author:Michael Stearns
Create image

“Drama is based on the Mistake. I think someone is my friend when he really is my enemy, that I am free to marry a woman when in fact she is my mother, that this person is a chambermaid when it is a young nobleman in disguise, that this well-dressed young man is rich when he is really a penniless adventurer, or that if I do this such and such a result will follow when in fact it results in something very different. All good drama has two movements, first the making of the mistake, then the discovery that it was a mistake.”

IfsThinkingMenFirstsWellsPersonsTwoDifferentFactsYoungMotherResultsMistakeEnemyRichMovementDramaDiscoveryMy FriendsTheaterTheatreYoung ManDisguiseAdventurerWell DressedNoblemenGood Drama
Author:W. H. Auden
Create image