Browsing Topic Best Henry V Quotes

There is hardly a pioneer’s hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin.

The civil jury is the most effective form of sovereignty of the people. It defies the aggressions of time and man. During the reigns of Henry VIII (1509-1547) and Elizabeth I (1158-1603), the civil jury did in reality save the liberties of England.

Villains are usually the worst casuists, and rush into crimes to avoid less. Henry VIII. committed murder to avoid the imputation of adultery; and in our times, those who commit the latter crime attempt to wash off the stain of seducing the wife by signifying their readiness to shoot the husband.

I would put forward a modest proposition that we were very much better governed by Henry VIII than we are by King Gordon.

An ugly woman, married to King Henry VIII, would have defied the axe and daunted her husband’s infidelities.

There isn’t a King Lear for women, or a Henry V, or a Richard III. You reach a level where you can handle that stuff technically and mentally, and it’s not there.

You end up with this succession of periods when everything was marvellous – from King Arthur to the medieval times, Ivanhoe, chivalry, Henry VIII, Merry England, the Blitz

We spent the first night of our honeymoon in a country hotel, with Tudor architecture oak beams, and floors which sloped, of the Queen-Elizabeth-Slept-Here variety. There were old tennis-courts – the Tudor kind where Henry VIII was said to have played; and gardens filled with winter heather, jasmine and yellow chrysanthemums. […] So that first night together was spent in the ancient bedroom with the tiny leaded paned windows, through which shafts of moonlight touched the room with a dreamlike radiance […]

A visionary company is like a great work of art. Think of Michelangelo’s scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or his statue of David. Think of a great and enduring novel like Huckleberry Finn or Crime and Punishment. Think of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony or Shakespeare’s Henry V. Think of a beautifully designed building, like the masterpieces of Frank Lloyd Wright or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. You can’t point to any one single item that makes the whole thing work; it’s the entire work-all the pieces working together to create an overall effect-that leads to enduring greatness.

Henry V’ is a great deal more than almost any other hell-bent-for-armor movie that you’ve seen.

I love horses. I think I may have been one of Henry VIII’s knights in another life, riding through a great forest.

I learned an invaluable lesson from a kid in Argentina when we were playing Buenos Aires in 2002. I came out of the hotel and this 16-year-old-boy asked me to sign his copy of my Six Wives of Henry VIII album. As I was signing it I asked him ‘what does a 16 year-old like about this old music?’ and he looked at me, quite hurt, and said, ‘it might be old to you, Mr Wakeman, but I only heard it for the first time last week. When you hear something for the first time, it’s new.’ I’ve never forgotten that.

I’ve played almost every lead character from Henry VI to Othello. I’m dying to tackle Richard III sometime.

I’ve got Tom Hiddleston playing Henry V. I don’t want to have a bowl haircut. I want him looking good so, you know, I want him in delicious kind of tight fitting leather jackets. [] I don’t want him in tights, so he got nice leather trousers in mine.

And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

She realises that if she is to save the show she is going to have to improvise a rousing speech, one of the many Henry V moments that make up her working life.

There are a lot of parallels between the historical Henry VIII and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. There’s an oscillation and extremity of emotion throughout his repertoire that lends itself beautifully to the nature of Henry VIII, definitely. He will push things to the limit, and yet remain in emotional control.

King Henry VIII, who said to his lawyer, Forget the alimony, I’ve got a better idea. Never got a dinner!

If I ever see another Shakespeare production where somebody drives a Jeep on stage, I’m going to run screaming up the aisle. These tend to be matters of design. I mean, we’re seeing a lot of – it’s very common to see Shakespeare with automatic weapons, things like that. They are clichés. They’re new clichés, but they are clichés. And they’re provincial. It’s not clever to do Henry V, and have everybody dressed in United Nations soldier’s costumes anymore. I’ve seen that one too. That kind of thing irritates me.