“One need not hope in order to undertake, nor succeed in order to persevere.”
As quoted in O Canada: An American's Notes on Canadian Culture (1963) by Edmund Wilson
William the Silent:
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quotes
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Famous William the Silent Quotes
“I have come to make my grave in this land.”
William as he led his army into the Netherlands (1572) as quoted in William the Silent, William of Nausau, Prince of Orange, 1533-1584 (1944)
On his second invasion of the Netherlands, to his brother John (1572), as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 62
“Our friends and allies are all turned cold.”
Letter to his brother, Louis of Nassau, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 93
To his brother Louis at the Siege of Harlem (1573), as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 68
William at a meeting about Philips actions (1566), as quoted in William the Silent, William of Nausau, Prince of Orange, 1533-1584 (1944), p. 78
William the Silent Quotes about God
“I will say no more, than that I will act as I shall answer hereafter to God and to man.”
After his wedding ceremony, on marrying his second wife, who was a Lutheran, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 32
To his first wife while she was dying (1558), as quoted William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 28
Response after hearing he had been declared an outlaw by Philip II, as quoted in The Rise of the Dutch Republic (1859) by John Lothrop Motley
Context: I am in the hands of God, my worldly goods and my life have long since been dedicated to his service. He will dispose of them as seems best for his glory and my salvation. … Would to God that my perpetual banishment or even my death could bring you a true deliverance from so many calamities. Oh, how consoling would be such banishment — how sweet such a death! For why have I exposed my property? Was it that I might enrich myself? Why have I lost my brothers? Was it that I might find new ones? Why have I left my son so long a prisoner? Can you give me another? Why have I put my life so often in danger? What reward can I hope after my long services, and the almost total wreck of my earthly fortunes, if not the prize of having acquired, perhaps at the expense of my life, your liberty? If then, my masters, you judge that my absence or my death can serve you, behold me ready to obey. Command me — send me to the ends of the earth — I will obey. Here is my head, over which no prince, no monarch, has power but yourselves. Dispose of it for your good, for the preservation of your republic, but if you judge that the moderate amount of experience and industry which is in me, if you judge that the remainder of my property and of my life can yet be of service to you, I dedicate them afresh to you and to the country.
Statement in Antwerp, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 34
Letter to his brother, Louis of Nassau, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 93
Context: We must have patience and not lose heart, submitting to the will of God, and striving incessantly, as I have resolved to do, come what may. With God’s help, I am determined to push onward, and by next month I trust to be at our appointed rendezvous. Watch Alva closely, and contrive to join me as arranged.
William talking to his brother John, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison p. 54
William the Silent Quotes about people
To the Count of Egmont about what to say to Philip II (1565), as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 22
“My God, my God, have mercy on me, and on my poor people!”
Last words, as quoted in De Vader des Vaderlands (1941) by W. Berkelbach van der Sprenkel, p. 29
Variants:
O my God, have mercy on this poor people.
My God, have pity on my soul; my God, have pity on this poor people.
My God, have mercy on my soul and on these poor people.
My God, have pity on my soul; I am badly wounded. My God, have pity on my soul and on this poor people!
On the loss of some of his brothers, in a letter to his brother John, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 76
William the Silent Quotes
Asking that two assassins who had tried to kill him be spared torture, as quoted in William the Silent, Frederic Harrison p. 109
Context: I have heard that tomorrow they are to execute the two prisoners, the accomplices of him who shot me. For my part, I most willingly pardon them. If they are thought deserving of a signal and severe penalty, I beg the magistrates not to put them to torture, but to give them a speedy death, if they have merited this. Good-night!
As quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 75
Context: It is not possible for me to bear alone such labours and the burden of such weighty cares as press on me from hour to hour, without one man at my side to help me. I have not a soul to aid me in all my anxieties and toils.
William writing to his brother Louis, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 10
Statement to his friend, the Count of Egmont, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison p. 76
William to Philip II while William was in command of the forces round Philippeville (5 January 5 1556), as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, Ch. II, p. 20
William in a letter to the Elector of Saxony, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 35
“The end will show the whole truth.”
To his brother Louis, commenting on The Count of Egmont's visit to Philip II about the problems in the Netherlands (1565), as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 22
“Do not kill him! I forgive him my death.”
After an assassin had tried to kill him, he ordered his soldiers not to kill the assassin, 1581., as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 223
Writing to his brother John after an unsuccessful campaign, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 64
“”Farewell count without a head”
Williams last words to his friend Lamoral of Egmont after he said to him; „Farewell prince without a land”, as written in ‚Uilenspiegel’ by Charles de Coster
William to a supporter of the King, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 92
On the actions of the Spanish at Oudewater, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 87
William talking about his personal life, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 176
William to the Landgrave of Hesse, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 34
Reply to the people who preferred Philip II over the Duke of Anjou, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison
I am now bald and Calvinist and in that faith will I die.
William to a supporter of the King, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison, p. 92
