Joan of Arc Quotes

Joan of Arc , nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War, and was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint. She was born to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family, at Domrémy in northeast France. Joan claimed to have received visions of the archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The unanointed King Charles VII sent Joan to the Siege of Orléans as part of a relief army. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted only nine days later. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII's consecration at Reims. This long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved the way for the final French victory.

On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundian faction, a group of French nobles allied with the English. She was later handed over to the English and put on trial by the pro-English bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. After Cauchon declared her guilty, she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, dying at about nineteen years of age.In 1456, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. In the 16th century she became a symbol of the Catholic League, and in 1803 she was declared a national symbol of France by the decision of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Joan of Arc is one of the nine secondary patron saints of France, along with Saint Denis, Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Louis, Saint Michael, Saint Rémi, Saint Petronilla, Saint Radegund and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

Joan of Arc has remained a popular figure in literature, painting, sculpture, and other cultural works since the time of her death, and many famous writers, playwrights, filmmakers, artists, and composers have created, and continue to create, cultural depictions of her. Wikipedia  

✵ 1412 – 30. May 1431   •   Other names Santa Giovanna d'Arco
Joan of Arc photo
Joan of Arc: 15   quotes 23   likes

Famous Joan of Arc Quotes

“You say that you are my judge. I do not know if you are! But I tell you that you must take good care not to judge me wrongly, because you will put yourself in great danger.”

Jeanne's warning to Bishop Cauchon (15 March 1431)
Trial records (1431)
Context: You say that you are my judge. I do not know if you are! But I tell you that you must take good care not to judge me wrongly, because you will put yourself in great danger. I warn you, so that if God punishes you for it, I would have done my duty by telling you!

“I am not afraid; I was born to do this.”

As quoted in While We Wait: Spiritual and Practical Advice for Those Trying to Adopt (2009) by Heidi Schlumpf, p. 37

“Alas! that my body, clean and whole, never been corrupted, today must be consumed and burnt to ashes!”

As quoted by Jean Toutmouille during the retrial after her execution (5 March 1449), as quoted in Jeanne d'Arc, maid of Orleans, Deliverer of France (1902) by T. Douglas Murray

“It is true I wished to escape; and so I wish still; is not this lawful for all prisoners?”

First public examination (21 February 1431)
Trial records (1431)

“About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter.”

From the trial transcript, as quoted in The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994)

“The Voice had promised me that, as soon I came to the King, he would receive me.”

Second public examination (22 February 1431)
Trial records (1431)
Context: The Voice had promised me that, as soon I came to the King, he would receive me. Those of my party knew well that the Voice had been sent me from God; they have seen and known this Voice, I am sure of it. My King and many others have also heard and seen the Voices which came to me: there were there Charles de Bourbon and two or three others. There is not a day when I do not hear this Voice; and I have much need of it. But never have I asked of it any recompense but the salvation of my soul.

Joan of Arc Quotes about God

“I was thirteen when I had a Voice from God for my help and guidance.”

Second public examination (22 February 1431) http://www.stjoan-center.com/Trials/sec02.html
Trial records (1431)
Context: I was thirteen when I had a Voice from God for my help and guidance. The first time that I heard this Voice, I was very much frightened; it was mid-day, in the summer, in my father's garden. I had not fasted the day before. I heard this Voice to my right, towards the Church; rarely do I hear it without its being accompanied also by a light. This light comes from the same side as the Voice. Generally it is a great light. Since I came into France I have often heard this Voice. … If I were in a wood, I could easily hear the Voice which came to me. It seemed to me to come from lips I should reverence. I believe it was sent me from God. When I heard it for the third time, I recognized that it was the Voice of an Angel. This Voice has always guarded me well, and I have always understood it; it instructed me to be good and to go often to Church; it told me it was necessary for me to come into France. You ask me under what form this Voice appeared to me? You will hear no more of it from me this time. It said to me two or three times a week: 'You must go into France.' My father knew nothing of my going. The Voice said to me: 'Go into France!' I could stay no longer. It said to me: 'Go, raise the siege which is being made before the City of Orleans. Go!' it added, 'to Robert de Baudricourt, Captain of Vaucouleurs: he will furnish you with an escort to accompany you.' And I replied that I was but a poor girl, who knew nothing of riding or fighting. I went to my uncle and said that I wished to stay near him for a time. I remained there eight days. I said to him, 'I must go to Vaucouleurs.' He took me there. When I arrived, I recognized Robert de Baudricourt, although I had never seen him. I knew him, thanks to my Voice, which made me recognize him.

“I do not fear men-at-arms; my way has been made plain before me. If there be men-at-arms my Lord God will make a way for me to go to my Lord Dauphin. For that am I come.”

Often misquoted as I am not afraid; I was born to do this.
As given in The Life of Joan of Arc (1909) by Anatole France, tr. Winifred Stevens, vol. i, p. 97, referencing Trials, vol. i, p. 449.

Joan of Arc Quotes

“The light comes at the same time as the Voice. … I will not tell you all; I have not leave; my oath does not touch on that.”

Third public examination (24 February 1431) http://www.stjoan-center.com/Trials/sec03.html; part of this testimony has sometimes been paraphrased: If I am not in the state of grace, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.
Trial records (1431)
Context: The light comes at the same time as the Voice. … I will not tell you all; I have not leave; my oath does not touch on that. My Voice is good and to be honored. I am not bound to answer you about it. I request that the points on which I do not now answer may be given me in writing. … You shall not know yet. There is a saying among children, that 'Sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.'" [She is asked : Do you know if you are in the grace of God? ] If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I would that every one could hear the Voice as I hear it.

“I would that every one could hear the Voice as I hear it.”

Third public examination (24 February 1431) http://www.stjoan-center.com/Trials/sec03.html; part of this testimony has sometimes been paraphrased: If I am not in the state of grace, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.
Trial records (1431)
Context: The light comes at the same time as the Voice. … I will not tell you all; I have not leave; my oath does not touch on that. My Voice is good and to be honored. I am not bound to answer you about it. I request that the points on which I do not now answer may be given me in writing. … You shall not know yet. There is a saying among children, that 'Sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.'" [She is asked : Do you know if you are in the grace of God? ] If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I would that every one could hear the Voice as I hear it.

“If ever I do escape, no one shall reproach me with having broken or violated my faith, not having given my word to any one, whosoever it may be.”

First public examination (21 February 1431) http://www.stjoan-center.com/Trials/sec01.html
Trial records (1431)

“There is a saying among children, that 'Sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.'"”

Trial records (1431)
Context: The light comes at the same time as the Voice. … I will not tell you all; I have not leave; my oath does not touch on that. My Voice is good and to be honored. I am not bound to answer you about it. I request that the points on which I do not now answer may be given me in writing. … You shall not know yet. There is a saying among children, that 'Sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.'" [She is asked : Do you know if you are in the grace of God? ] If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I would that every one could hear the Voice as I hear it.

Third public examination (24 February 1431) http://www.stjoan-center.com/Trials/sec03.html; part of this testimony has sometimes been paraphrased: If I am not in the state of grace, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.

“Children say that people are hanged sometimes for speaking the truth.”

From the trial transcript, as quoted in World Famous Women: Types of Female Heroism, Beauty, and Influence from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time (1881) by Frank Boott Goodrich, p. 126

Variant translation: There is a saying among children that sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.

“One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it, and then it's gone. But to surrender what you are, and live without belief - that's more terrible than dying - more terrible than dying young.”

Quote is often seen as attributed to Joan of Arc. However, the quote is actually a line from a script for the 1946 Broadway play entitled Joan of Lorraine by Maxwell Anderson which later become a movie in 1948 entitled Joan of Arc directed by Victor Fleming and starring Ingrid Bergman. The line is spoken by Joan of Arc to Bishop Pierre Cauchon in Act II, Scene III of the play. ( Script http://books.google.com/books?id=bOe6kHHbSiEC)
Misattributed

Similar authors

Angela of Foligno photo
Angela of Foligno 13
Italian saint
Benedict of Nursia photo
Benedict of Nursia 3
Christian saint and monk
Francis of Assisi photo
Francis of Assisi 49
Catholic saint and founder of the Franciscan Order
Hildegard of Bingen photo
Hildegard of Bingen 8
Medieval saint, prophetise, mystic and Doctor of Church
Isaac of Nineveh photo
Isaac of Nineveh 9
Eastern Orthodox saint
Julian of Norwich photo
Julian of Norwich 372
English theologian and anchoress
Thomas Aquinas photo
Thomas Aquinas 104
Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catho…
Richard of Chichester photo
Richard of Chichester 1
Bishop of Chichester, Saint
Albertus Magnus photo
Albertus Magnus 5
Dominican friar
Bonaventure photo
Bonaventure 6
franciscan, bishop, cardinal, Doctor of the Church, catholi…