John Milton - Thomas Carlyle - Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Midget Molley - The Hollow Crown & William Shakespeare - John Dunning - Christopher Marlowe - George R R Martin - Andrew Roberts TV - Edmund Burke - Proverbs 27:24 - Margaret TV – Robert Ingersoll - David Starkey TV - Peaky Blinders TV - History’s Most Hated TV - Empires: Napoleon I TV - Yes, Minister TV - Robert Bartlett TV - Melvin Durslag -
A crown
Golden in show, is but a wreath of thorns.
Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights
To him who wears the regal diadem. John Milton, Paradise Regained II:458
Every noble crown is, and on Earth will forever be, a crown of thorns. Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present III:VIII
Crowns have been made hereditary in certain families, and an order of succession has been set up, to prevent disputes from arising on the death of kings. That is to say, the disadvantages of regency have been put in place of those of election, apparent tranquillity has been preferred to wise administration, and men have chosen rather to risk having children, monstrosities, or imbeciles as rulers to having disputes over the choice of good kings. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The crown? It has no significance to me now. Midget Molley, Atlantic City, BBC 2009
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. The Hollow Crown: Henry IV part II ***** starring Jeremy Irons & Simon Russell Beale & Tom Hiddleston & Alun Armstrong & David Bamber & Julie Walters & Niamh Cusack & David Dawson & Michaelle Dockery et al, director Richard Eyre, King, BBC 2012
Within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court, and there the antick sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp. William Shakespeare, Richard II III ii 160
32,433. Give me the crown. Here, cousin, seize the crown;
Here cousin,
On this side my hand and on that side thine.
Now is this golden crown like a deep well
That owes two buckets filling one another;
The emptier ever dancing in the air,
The other down, unseen, and full of water:
That bucket down and full of tears am I,
Drinking my griefs, whilst you mount upon high. ibid. IV i 181
My crown I am, but still my griefs are mine.
You may my glories and my state dispose,
But not my griefs; still am I king of those. ibid. IV i 181-183, Richard to Bolingbroke
Not today, O Lord,
O not today, think not upon the fault
My father made in compassing the Crown. William Shakespeare, Henry V IV i 289-291
The influence of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished. John Dunning, resolution House of Commons 6th April 1780
That perfect bliss and sole felicity, the sweet fruition of an earthly crown. Christopher Marlowe
It was a hollow victory they gave me. A crown ... I ask you, Ned, what good is it to wear a crown? George R R Martin, A Game of Thrones
[Napoleon] Seized the crown, turned to the congregation, raised it high and placed it upon his own head. Andrew Roberts, Napoleon, BBC 2015
The power of the crown, almost dead and rotten as prerogative, has grown up anew, with much more strength, and far less odium, under the name of Influence. Edmund Burke
For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? Proverbs 27:24
He who wields the dagger never wears the crown. Margaret starring Lindsay Duncan & Ian McDiarmid & Roger Allam & Michael Cochrane & Oliver Cotton & Philip Jackson & Robert Hardy & James Fox et al, director James Kent, Heseltine, BBC 2009
In all ages hypocrites, called priests, have put crowns on the heads of thieves, called kings. Robert G Ingersoll
Civil war and revolution: politics fused with religion first strengthening the monarchy, then bringing it to its knees. In this revolutionary period the monarchy acquired a potent new symbol: an elaborate outsized crown made for the Tudor dynasty. Monarchy by David Starkey s2e1: The Crown Imperial, Channel 4 2005
I don’t like the fucking life … In my dream, someone wants my crown. And it could be Michael. Peaky Blinders s5e2: Black Cats, Thomas to Arthur, BBC 2019
At his coronation Napoleon took the crown himself. History’s Most Hated s1e5: Napoleon Bonaparte, History 2019
Napoleon Bonaparte, thirty-five years old, was about to be crowned Emperor of France. ‘I found the crown of France in the gutter,’ he said, ‘and I picked it up.’ It was December 2nd 1804. Within three years Napoleon’s conquest would extend his empire across almost all of Europe. Empires: Napoleon I: to Destiny, PBS 2000
Seizing the crown in his own hand he held it aloft then brought it to rest on his own head. ibid.
You know why he’s called a minister of the Crown, don’t you? He’s always talking through the top of his head. Or the back of it. Yes, Minister s2e6: The Quality of Life, BBC 1981
The Welsh surrendered to the English king the crown of King Arthur. Professor Robert Bartlett, The Plantagenets II, BBC 2014
When he [Ray Robinson] crossed a hotel lobby, people stared in admiration. Ray was born to wear a crown. No champion boxed or lived with his style. Melvin Durslag