“Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
To his friend Nicholas Ridley, as they were both about to be burned as heretics for their teachings and beliefs outside Balliol College, Oxford (16 October 1555); as quoted in History of the British Empire (1870) by William Francis Collier, p. 124; also in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, p. 36; and in The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations (1989) by Robert Andrews, p. 190.
Variants:
Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.
As quoted in the Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, touching Matters of the Church (Foxe's Book of Martyrs) (1563) by John Foxe; also in The London Encyclopaedia, or, Universal Dictionary of Science, Art, Literature, and Practical Mechanics (1829) by Thomas Tegg, p. 455
Be of good cheer, master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle in England, as I hope, by God's grace, shall never be put out.
As quoted in The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction (1831) by Reuben Percy and John Timbs, p. 419
Be of good comfort, brother and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out.
As quoted in Historical Collections Relating to Remarkable Periods of the Success of the Gospel (1845) by John Gillies and Horatius Bonar, p. 57
Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, play the man; We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.
As quoted in An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1847) by Charles Bridges, p. 126, but he cites Foxe as source, so this is clearly a slight misquotation of Foxe's version.
Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man, for we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God's grace shall never be put out.
As quoted in The Conscience of Culture (1953) by Everett Tilson, p. 116
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Hugh Latimer 6
British bishop 1485–1555Related quotes
“If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.”
Section 196 of the Code of Hammurabi (translated by Leonard William King, 1910).
Alternately translated as: If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye.
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 595
Poem, "God Knows" (1908) as quoted by George VI
“Shall we relieve a man, that trusts when he needs not?”
Tawney's Case (1703), 2 Raym. 1013.
The Letters Of William Blake https://archive.org/details/lettersofwilliam002199mbp (1956), p. 74-75
Context: And now let me finish with assuring you that, Tho I have been very unhappy, I am so no longer. I am again. Emerged into the light of day; I still & shall to Eternity Embrace Christianity and Adore him who is the Express image of God; but I have travel'd thro' Perils & Darkness not unlike a Champion. I have Conquer'd, and shall still Go on Conquering. Nothing can withstand the fury of my Course among the Stars of God & in the Abysses of the Accuser. My Enthusiasm is still what it was, only Enlarged and conform'd.
“I shall curse you with book and bell and candle.”
Book XXI, ch. 1
Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1469) (first known edition 1485)
The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother (1853), "Rigdon's Depression"