Quotes About Authority

A church that lives by power dies by power.

The law is what powerful men say it shall be.

Yes, but either way, shamed or not, I shall be Queen of England, and this is the last time you will sit in my presence.

True obedience can only happen when you secretly think you know better, and you choose to bow your head. Anything short of that is just agreement, and any ninny-in-waiting can agree.

Yes, Your Grace, I correct her. I am My Lady, the King's Mother, now, and you shall curtsey to me, as low as to a queen of royal blood. This was my destiny: to put my son on the throne of England, and those who laughed at my visions and doubted my vocation will call me My Lady, the King's Mother, and I shall sign myself Margaret Regina: Margaret R.

Nothing would be the same for any woman in this country again. From this time onward no wife, however obedient, however loving, would be safe. For everyone would know that if a wife such as Queen Katherine of England could be put aside for no reason, then any wife could be put aside.

The queen sees me coming, turns toward us and waits, with a killer's patience, for me to reach the chancel steps.

He smiled at me, his wolfish smile. 'We are making a new order,' he said, 'a new world. Everything is changing, and here we are, at the very front of the change.' 'If I refuse?' I asked, my voice very thing. He gave me his most cynical smile that left his eyes as cold as wet coals. 'You don't,' he said simply. 'The world's not changed that much yet. Men still rule.

We wait by the door for him to notice us and I think how wonderful it must be to be a man and put your initial on a command and know that at once, such a thing is done. I would send out commands all day just for the pleasure of it.

who could deny the Pope when he held the keys of heaven in his hand?

We are making a new order," he said. "A new world. There is talk of the end of the authority of the Pope, the map of France and Spain is being redrawn. Everything is changing, and here we are, at the very front of the change.

If I refuse?" I asked, my voice very thin. He gave me his most cynical smile that left his eyes as cold as wet coals. "You don't," he said simply. "The world's not changed that much yet. Men still rule.

And it was Anne who was before the table like a prisoner before the bar. She did not stand with her head bowed as I always did. Anne stood with her head high, one dark eyebrow slightly raised, and she met my uncle's glare as if she were his equal.

My mother does not need your good opinion," Anthony says icily. "None of us care what you think.

Once more, I am watching the most powerful men in the kingdom bring their power to bear on a woman who has done nothing worse than live to the beat of her own heart, see with her own eyes; but this is not their tempo nor their vision, and they cannot tolerate any other.

I did not need to keep the letter to remember the tone. Anna triumphant. And she was right. Nothing would be the same for any woman in this country again. From this time onward no wife, however obedient, however loving, would be safe. For everyone would know that if a wife such as Queen Katherine of England could be put aside for no reason, then any wife could be put aside.

He likes to think well of himself," I explained, watching the turn of Anne's head and hearing her ripple of low laughter. "He could not bring himself to turn off a woman just because she's become old. He has to find a way to see that it is God's will that he leaves her. He has to find a greater authority than his own desires.

This is the man they call a great king, the greatest king that we have ever had in England. Does it not teach us that we should have no king? That a people should be free? That a tyrant is still a tyrant even when he has a handsome face under a crown?

Child, you cannot change a king, you can only make him laugh.

They don't like to think of women in power, women as leaders.

D'you think I can't write this and get someone-a drunk married to a fool -to swear to it? Do you think I can't sey up as historian? As storyteller? D'you think I can't write a history which years from now everyone will believe as the truth? I am the king. Who shall write the record of my reign if not me? 'You can say anything you like' I say levelly. 'Of course you can. You're King of England. But it doesn't make it true.

of the palace to inform me that Lady Margaret

Even in that short time he had seen that Anne had great power. She did not care if she quarreled with her uncle, or with any of the men at court that could have been her allies. She did not care who hated her, as long as the king was at her beck and call. And she could ruin any man she chose.

She never thought when she overthrew a queen that thereafter all queens would be unsteady.