Elizabeth I Quotes Proverbs, and Aphorisms
- September 7, 1533 – March 24, 1603
- English
- Queen of England and Ireland, Monarch
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603, marking a golden age in English history known as the Elizabethan era. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, she skillfully navigated political and religious divisions, establishing Protestantism as the national faith and maintaining relative internal peace. Her reign saw the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and a flourishing of English culture, especially in literature and drama through figures like William Shakespeare. Though praised for her intelligence, political acumen, and strong leadership, some criticized her reluctance to marry and secure a Tudor heir. Nonetheless, Elizabeth I remains one of England’s most iconic and influential monarchs.
- “There is one thing higher than Royalty: and that is religion, which causes us to leave the world, and seek God.”
- “He who placed me in this seat will keep me here.”
- “It is a natural virtue incident to our sex to be pitiful of those that are afflicted.”
- “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 shall lend credit to nothing against my people which parents would not believe against their own children.”
- “To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it.”
- “I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a people.”
- “One man with a head on his shoulders is worth a dozen without.”
- “Brass shines as fair to the ignorant as gold to the goldsmiths.”
- “I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over!”
- “I have the heart of a man, not a woman, and I am not afraid of anything.”
- “A fool too late bewares when all the peril is past.”
- “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.”
- “Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind.”
- “God has given such brave soldiers to this Crown that, if they do not frighten our neighbours, at least they prevent us from being frightened by them.”
- “Where might is mixed with wit, there is too good an accord in a government.”
- “Monarchs ought to put to death the authors and instigators of war, as their sworn enemies and as dangers to their states.”
- “The past cannot be cured.”
- “Ye may have a greater prince, but ye shall never have a more loving prince.”
- “God forgive you, but I never can.”
- “If thy heart fails thee, climb not at all.”
- “Where minds differ and opinions swerve there is scant a friend in that company.”
- “Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested.”
- “All my possessions for a moment of time.”
- “The stone often recoils on the head of the thrower.”
- “The word must is not to be used to princes.”
- “A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing.”
- “If we still advise we shall never do.”
- “The end crowneth the work.”
- “I do not want a husband who honours me as a queen, if he does not love me as a woman.”
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “Fear not, we are of the nature of the lion, and cannot descend to the destruction of mice and such small beasts.”
- “I would rather go to any extreme than suffer anything that is unworthy of my reputation, or of that of my crown.”
- “Those who appear the most sanctified are the worst.”
- “A strength to harm is perilous in the hand of an ambitious head.”
- “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.”
- “I pray to God that I shall not live one hour after I have thought of using deception.”
- “I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.”
- “I do not choose that my grave should be dug while I am still alive.”