The Tudors · Season 4
I have a moment of nostalgia now and then... even for my enemies. I understand that Thomas Boleyn died recently.
(dryly) Yes, and the only mourners at that funeral were the ghosts of his children.
And, now that you are back at Court, what are you intentions?
To surpass the achievements of my father and grandfather.
... That is very ambitious.
(shrugs) I am a Howard, Your Grace- it is expected of me, and always has been. And I will not fail.
Does the Duchess love you any better, Charles?
She seems to but only for the sake of appearances.
[sighs] How can I help you, Charles?
Well, when she consents to make love with me again, strike a medal to commemorate it.
[talking to his advisors] My Lords, I assure you I am not content. I have relied upon you to inform and counsel me, and yet I am the most deceived. I have trusted and favoured all of you, and I have formed a sinister opinion that most of you are liars and flatterers who look only to your own profits. I know what you are planning, and if God gives me the strength, I will see to it that none of your projects ever succeed! [sadly] I mourn Cromwell's death. [His advisors looks shocked] Yes, I mourn him! I mourn him, now that I perceive that my counsellors, by light pretext and by false accusations, made me put to death the most...faithful servant I ever had.
(to his daughter, Elizabeth) Without knowledge, life is not worth having.
(hallucinating during illness as he sees Lord Darcy) You're dead!!
Yes, but not at rest.
Do you want a confessor?
No. I have spoken to God so rarely, I do not think he would know who I was.
I have come here to die. I die a Queen, but I would rather die the wife of Culpeper. Life is very beautiful.
Tell me what is happening in Court. Is the King thinking of marrying again?
There is a new law enacted. It requires that any lady the king may marry must, on pain of death, disclose any charge of sexual misconduct that might be brought against her. Frankly, my lady, this lowers the field. The ladies at court are how you say... not exactly known for their virtue.
(about her first husband) It was not a happy marriage, Your Majesty.
Do you think such a thing exists?
Yes, I believe that with all my heart and soul.
Your Grace, I will appoint you commander of the armies if you have the will and the stomach for the fight.
Majesty, I can only thank God for the chance to win honor and glory in the field. What man would not prefer to die with a sword in his hand and a cry in his throat rather than in a bed in England.
The King does not just want France back but all his honor and his youth as well. In that, he is like me.
(angry at his physicians) These men are not sick from the phlox but from cowardice, and I will not send cowards home. They will either fight or I'll hang them by the wayside! You get them from their sickbeds back into that trench or you'll find yourself a head shorter!
What are you thinking?
That I was dead and am alive again.
My well-beloved commons, I come here today to speak with you to set forth my mind and the secrets of my heart. There should be perfect love and concord in this realm but instead there is discord and dissension in every place. What love and charity is there amongst the clergy when one calls the other heretic and anabaptist, and the other calls him papist and hypocrite? Are these tokens of charity amongst you? Are these the signs of fraternal love? The people look for light, and you bring them darkness. And as for the laity, you are not clean of malice and envy. For you slander and rebuke priests and bishops. You take it upon yourself to judge the clergy by the sole light of your fantastical opinions and vain expositions. Although you are permitted to read holy scripture, you must understand that it is under license, and only to inform your conscience, not to dispute and make scripture. I gave you the Bible in your own tongue, but I am sorry to see that that most precious jewel, the word of God, has been disputed, rhymed, sung, and jangled in every ale house and every tavern in this realm. I, whom God has appointed His vicar here, will see these divisions extinct and those enormities corrected, or God should account me an unprofitable servant. Therefore, be of charity with one another, like brother and brother. Love, dread, and serve God, to which I, as your supreme head and sovereign lord exhort and require you. And I doubt not but that love and affinity which I spoke of at the beginning shall never be dissolved or broken between us.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The Tudors pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
