''Ye may have a greater prince, but ye shall never have a more loving prince.''
''Princes have big ears which hear far and near.''
''I do not choose that my grave should be dug while I am still alive.''
''Where minds differ and opinions swerve there is scant a friend in that company.''
''I would rather go to any extreme than suffer anything that is unworthy of my reputation, or of that of my crown.''
''It is a natural virtue incident to our sex to be pitiful of those that are afflicted.''
''They are most deceived that trusteth most in themselves.''
''It seems incredible, and I love them no less; and I can say that I would rather die than see any diminution of it on one side or the other.''
''There is small disproportion betwixt a fool who useth not wit because he hath it not and him that useth it not when it should avail him.''
''The word "must" is not to be used to princes.''
''Where might is mixed with wit, there is too good an accord in a government.''
''Mr. Doctor, that loose gown becomes you so well I wonder your notions should be so narrow.''
''Fear not, we are of the nature of the lion, and cannot descend to the destruction of mice and such small beasts.''
''Be of good cheer, for you will never want, for the bullet was meant for me, though it hit you.''
''Must! Is must a word to be addressed to princes? Little man, little man! thy father, if he had been alive, durst not have used that word.''
''... what a family is without a steward, a ship without a pilot, a flock without a shepherd, a body without a head, the same, I think, is a kingdom without the health and safety of a good monarch.''
''My loving people,—We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but, I do assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear.''
''Kings were wont to honour philosophers; but if I had such I would honour them as angels that should have such purity in them that they would not seek when they are the second to be the first, and when they are third to be the second.''
''Though I am not imperial, and though Elizabeth may not deserve it, the Queen of England will easily deserve to have an emperor's son to marry.''
''Mortua—sed non sepulta! Mortua—sed non sepulta! [Dead—but not buried! Dead—but not buried!]''
''I shall lend credit to nothing against my people which parents would not believe against their own children.''
''Monarchs ought to put to death the authors and instigators of war, as their sworn enemies and as dangers to their states.''
''I think he and I should get married!''
''When I received this [coronation] ring I solemnly bound myself in marriage to the realm; and it will be quite sufficient for the memorial of my name and for my glory, if, when I die, an inscription be engraved on a marble tomb, saying, "Here lieth Elizabeth, which reigned a virgin, and died a virgin."''
''Madame d'Estampes and Madame de Valentinois make me fear that I should be only honoured by my husband as a queen and not loved by him as a woman.''
''The end crowneth the work.''
''I, a virgin, can make my frank boast that I communicate to no mortal man my secret counsels except to such as I have chosen on account of their taciturnity; then, if these secrets are later discovered, I know whom to accuse.''
''Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak ... you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind.''
''All my possessions for a moment of time.''
''I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England, too.''
''I am more afraid of making a fault in my Latin than of the Kings of Spain, France, Scotland, the whole House of Guise, and all of their confederates.''
''I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.''
''I regret the unhappiness of princes who are slaves to forms and fettered by caution.''
''I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over!''
''If our web be framed with rotten handles, when our loom is well nigh done, our work is new to begin. God send the weaver true prentices again, and let them be denizens.''
''That milkmaid's lot is better than mine, and her life merrier.''
''My lord, the crown which I have borne so long has given enough of vanity in my time. I beseech you not to augment it in this hour when I am so near my death.''
''A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing.''
''The stone often recoils on the head of the thrower.''
''My mortal foe can no ways wish me a greater harm than England's hate; neither should death be less welcome unto me than such a mishap betide me.''
''One man with a head on his shoulders is worth a dozen without.''
''A fool too late bewares when all the peril is past.''
''I have the heart of a man, not a woman, and I am not afraid of anything.''
''The past cannot be cured.''
''A strength to harm is perilous in the hand of an ambitious head.''
''Although my royal rank causes me to doubt whether my kingdom is not more sought after than myself, yet I understand that you have found other graces in me.''
''If we still advise we shall never do.''
''This day died a man with much wit and very little judgment.''
''I am no lover of pompous title, but only desire that my name may be recorded in a line or two, which shall briefly express my name, my virginity, the years of my reign, the reformation of religion under it, and my preservation of peace.''
''I would gladly chastise those who represent things as different from what they are. Those who steal property or make counterfeit money are punished, and those ought to be still more severely dealt with who steal away or falsify the good name of a prince.''
''To be a king and wear a crown is more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasure to them that bear it.''
''Let the good service of well-deservers be never rewarded with loss. Let their thanks be such as may encourage more strivers for the like.''
''There is nothing about which I am more anxious than my country, and for its sake I am willing to die ten deaths, if that be possible.''
''Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested.''
''I do not want a husband who honours me as a queen, if he does not love me as a woman.''
''The name of a successor is like the tolling of my own death-bell!''
''Those who appear the most sanctified are the worst.''
''Be always faithful to me, as I always desire to keep you in peace; and if there have been wiser kings, none has ever loved you more than I have.''
''There is nothing in the world I hold in greater horror than to see a body moving against its head: and I shall be very careful not to ally myself with such a monster.''
