Quotes about king
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“When Stephen King elaborated on his inspirations for his novel "Carrie" he draws from a time when he was a young man, and describes his impression when he came upon a statue of Christ on the cross, hanging there in misery, and he thought”

Stephen King (1947) American author

Source: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Time, Christ, Drawing

“Oh, mercy. If it catches you in the wrong frame of mind, the King James Bible can make you want to drink poison in no uncertain terms.”

Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible

Source: The Poisonwood Bible

Drink

“A king is history's slave.”

Leo Tolstoy book War and Peace

Bk. IX, ch. 1
Source: War and Peace (1865–1867; 1869)

History

“I thought that being king meant I didn't have to kill people myself. I see know that was another misconception.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

People

“We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan,
Our statures touch the skies.

The heroism we recite
Would be a daily thing,
Did not ourselves the cubits warp
For fear to be a king.”

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) American poet

Fear

“In the games of queens and kings, we leave our dreams at the door and we make do with what we have. Sometimes if we’re fortunate, we still manage to have a good life.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Quintana of Charyn

Life, Dreams, Game

“You try getting through the Hollows traffic with a stoned redhead hanging out the window shouting, 'I'm king of the world!' ~Lee”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Black Magic Sanction

World

“And so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie,
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.”

John Milton (1608–1674) English epic poet

On Shakespeare (1630)
Source: The Complete Poetry

Lie

“From one king to another, know that I'm giving you the middle finger right now." And he was, with a smile.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Reborn

Smile

“Once, poets were magicians. Poets were strong, stronger than warriors or kings — stronger than old hapless gods. And they will be strong once again.”

Greg Bear (1951) American writer best known for science fiction

God, Strong

“If I have to scour the entire earth, I'll hunt her down. I will no' falter. One day I will bring my female back to my home - back to my bed… She was born to be found by me.
-Garreth MacRieve, King of all Lykae”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Home

“You can party, but I better not catch you drunk. (Wulf)
(Chris rolled his eyes, then bent down to said to Cassandra’s stomach…)
Be wise, little guy, stay in there where Lord King Neurotic can’t kill all your fun. (Chris)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Kiss of the Night

Guy

“Don't ever ask me again if I hate living anywhere with you and Jasmina. This Rock reminds me of the boy I was and being with you in the palace reminds me of the man I want to be.'

'Not just any man,' she whispered. 'A King. Mine.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Froi of the Exiles

Hate, Boy

“That is ridiculous," she said.
The king agreed. "Like falling in love with a landslide. Only you could fail to notice.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

Love

“Tell me a story then… keep me occupied."
"A story?… What makes you think I can tell a story?"
"Insight," said the king, "Go on.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

Thinking

“… at the time, King Herbert felt that to remain safe, the kingdom needed an effective intelligence force."

"An intelligent force?" said Will.

"Not intelligent. Intelligence. Although it does help if your intelligence force was also intelligent.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: The Ruins of Gorlan

Intelligence, Time, Help

“The town kept its secrets, and the Marsten House brooded over it like a ruined king.”

Stephen King book 'Salem's Lot

Source: 'Salem's Lot

Secret, Housing

“Who’s that?
That’s the King.
Who’s he?
The Duke.
Who’s she?
The Princess.
What do they call you?
The Count.
What does that make me?
Umm…how about the Peasant?
And the name stuck.”

Jordan Sonnenblick (1969) American writer

Source: Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

Princess

“I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.”

Pietro Aretino (1492–1556) Italian author, playwright, poet, satirist, and blackmailer

“… her queen danced like a flame in the wind, and the mercurial king like the weight at the center of the earth…”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

Dance

“History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created.”

William Morris (1834–1896) author, designer, and craftsman

People, Art, History

“… I believe in a God of scandalous grace. I have pledged allegiance to a King who loved evildoers so much he died for them, teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for.”

Shane Claiborne (1975) American activist

Love, God

“Then come out," said the king, helping him, "knowing you'll never die of a fall unless the god himself drops you.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

God, Help

“And his hands would plait the priest's entrails,
For want of a rope, to strangle kings.”

Denis Diderot (1713–1784) French Enlightenment philosopher and encyclopædist

Et ses mains ourdiraient les entrailles du prêtre,
Au défaut d’un cordon pour étrangler les rois.
"Les Éleuthéromanes", in Poésies Diverses (1875)
Variant translation: His hands would plait the priest's guts, if he had no rope, to strangle kings.
This derives from the prior statement widely attributed to Jean Meslier: "I would like — and this would be the last and most ardent of my wishes — I would like the last of the kings to be strangled by the guts of the last priest". It is often claimed the passage appears in Meslier's Testament (1725) but it only appears in abstracts of the work written by others. See the Wikipedia article Jean Meslier for details.
Let us strangle the last king with the guts of the last priest.
Attributed to Diderot by Jean-François de La Harpe in Cours de Littérature Ancienne et Moderne (1840)
Attributions to Diderot of similar statements also occur in various forms, i.e.: "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
Variant: Et des boyaux du dernier prêtre
Serrons le cou du dernier roi.

“And Max, the king of all wild things, was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all.”

Maurice Sendak book Where the Wild Things Are

Source: Where the Wild Things Are

Love

“The answer is no, I would rather marry the Demon King himself than marry you. I
suggest you look elsewhere for a bride. And heaven help the one you choose.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: The Gray Wolf Throne

Help

“Kings and philosophers defecate, and so do ladies.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

Variant: Kings and philosophers shit—and so do ladies.

“If you were Queen of pleasure
And I were King of pain
We'd hunt down Love together,
Pluck out his flying-feather,
And teach his feet a measure,
And find his mouth a rein;
If you were Queen of pleasure
And I were King of pain.”

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic

Love, Pain, Pleasure, Flying

“To find riches is a beggar’s dream, but to find love is the dream of kings.”

Sidney Sheldon book Bloodline

Source: Bloodline

Love, Dreams

“You can be merry with the king, you can share a joke with him. But as Thomas More used to say, it's like sporting with a tamed lion. You tousle its mane and pull its ears, but all the time you're thinking, those claws, those claws, those claws.”

Hilary Mantel Bring Up the Bodies

Source: Bring Up the Bodies

Thinking, Sport, Time

“Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place; and men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross.”

Thomas Malory book Le Morte d'Arthur

Source: Le Morte d'Arthur

Men, Parting, Dead

“Your fey cousin here has the miraculous ability to hold his liquor--and mine, and yours, and the king's, and half the country's, I expect.”

Alethea Kontis (1976) American writer

Source: Enchanted

Country

“Tell her this
And more,—
That the king of the seas
Weeps too, old, helpless man.
The bustling fates
Heap his hands with corpses
Until he stands like a child
With surplus of toys.”

Stephen Crane (1871–1900) American novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist

Source: Complete Poems of Stephen Crane

Fate, Sea

“Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring, for His grace and power are such none can ever ask too much.”

John Newton (1725–1807) Anglican clergyman and hymn-writer

Variant: Thou art coming to a King,
large petitions with thee bring,
for His grace and pow'r are such
none can ever ask too much.

Art

“I make that four horses and ten men just to get rid of one old woman. What did youto the King?”

Diana Wynne Jones book Howl's Moving Castle

Source: Howl's Moving Castle

Men, Horse

“I'm not insecure. I've been through way too much f**king sh*t to be insecure. I've got huge balls. But I've been humbled. That makes you grateful for every day you have.”

Drew Barrymore (1975) American actress, director and producer

Way

“I was a man before I was a king, and no true man walks away when a friend needs him.”

David Gemmell (1948–2006) British author of heroic fantasy

Source: Fall of Kings

“Anarchism is not a romantic fable but the hardheaded realization, based on five thousand years of experience, that we cannot entrust the management of our lives to kings, priests, politicians, generals, and county commissioners.”

Edward Abbey (1927–1989) American author and essayist

A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto) (1990)

“Our problems started in Dallas, when the fire-breathing sheep destroyed the King Tut exhibit.”

Rick Riordan book The Serpent's Shadow

Source: The Serpent's Shadow

Problem

“Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.”

Chinua Achebe book Things Fall Apart

Source: Things Fall Apart

People, Age

“It was just a kiss – "
"Yeah, and King Kong was just a monkey.”

Linda Howard (1950) American writer

Source: After the Night

Kiss

“When they passed the centaur king's cell, Volos pointed at Regin and slid his forefinger across his throat.

She replied, "Hey, didn't I see you in a donkey show down in Tijuana? No? You've got a twin then--”

Kresley Cole American writer

Variant: When they passed the centaur king’s cell, Volós pointed at Regin and slid his forefinger across his throat.

She replied, “Hey, didn’t I see you in a donkey show down in Tijuana? No? You’ve got a twin then—
Source: Dreams of a Dark Warrior

“As gentle a man as he was, as tender as was his heart, there was nothing weak about Michael Hosea. He was the strongest-minded man Joseph had ever met. A Man like Noah. A Man like the Shepherd-king David. A man after God's own heart.”

Francine Rivers (1947) American writer

Source: Redeeming Love

God, Heart

“And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats.”

James Clavell book King Rat

Source: King Rat

Food

“Many… have learned that the magnitude of lives is not as to their external displacements, but as to their subjective experiences. The impressionable peasant leads a larger, fuller, more dramatic life than the pachydermatous king.”

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) English novelist and poet

Source: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Life, Learning

“Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.”

Edmund Burke book Reflections on the Revolution in France

Volume iii, p. 334
Source: Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

“We both believe in monsters. But all the ghosts and demons are you. And all the angels and genies are you. All the kings, queens, Buddhas, beautiful boys. Inside you. No one can take them away. (Missing Angel Juan.)”

Francesca Lia Block (1962) American children's writer

Beauty, Angels, Boy

“In the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed man is king.”

Guy De Maupassant Bel-Ami

Source: Bel-Ami

For Men

“Knowledge is Power. Ignorance is Bliss. But curiosity—even if it had killed the cat—is king.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Cats, Knowledge

“Little by little, the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him.”

Jennifer Donnelly book Revolution

Source: Revolution

World, Imagination

“Jane," I said quietly.
She opened her eyes, she had been far away in prayer.
"Yes, Mary? Forgive me, I was praying."
"If you go on flirting with the king with those sickly little smiles, one of us Boleyns is going to scratch your eyes out.”

Philippa Gregory book The Other Boleyn Girl

Source: The Other Boleyn Girl

Smile, Forgiveness

“He didn't marry you to become king. He became king because he wanted to marry you.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

“To the stupidity of men, " Dakota said, raising a glass. "And my brother, who is their king.”

Susan Mallery (1950) American author

Source: Almost Perfect

Men, Stupidity

“And I Jack, the Pumpkin King, have grown so tired of the same old thing…”

Tim Burton (1958) American filmmaker

Source: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

“I love this quote when Valerian the King of the Nymphs says to his mate Shaye;

"I am Valerian, leader of the nymphs. You may call me Oh God, that is what the other surface dwellers have preferred to call me".”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: The Nymph King

Love, God, Quotes

“Killing one person makes you a murderer. Killing a million people makes you a king. Killing them all makes you God.”

Frank E. Peretti book House

Source: House

God, People, Personality

“Then from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat, so he gave up being king of the wild things.”

Maurice Sendak book Where the Wild Things Are

Source: Where the Wild Things Are

World

“Though [Abraham Lincoln] never would travel to Europe, he went with Shakespeare’s kings to Merry England; he went with Lord Byron poetry to Spain and Portugal. Literature allowed him to transcend his surroundings.”

Doris Kearns Goodwin (1943) American biographer

Travel, Literature

“Mouse sandwiches and open graves?" Meredith arched an elegant eyebrow. "I think you're getting Stephen King mixed up with Lewis Carroll.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: Dark Reunion

Thinking

“The land is all too shallow
It is painted on the sky
And trembles like the wind-shook rain
When the Raven King passed by”

Susanna Clarke (1959) British author

Source: Jonathan Strange i pan Norrell. Tom 3

Painting

“Mac reflected on the Unseelie King and his concubine:

He’d loved her for all time
After he’d believed she was gone
Sunshine to his ice.
Frost to her fever.
I wished them forever. The Unseelie King was gone.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Love, Time

“I thought, There goes my lord, whom I was born to follow. I have found a King.
And, I said to myself, looking after him as he walked away, I will have him, if I die for it.”

Mary Renault book The Persian Boy

Source: The Persian Boy

“I am not unique in my elegiac sadness at watching reading die, in the era that celebrates Stephen King and J. K. Rowling rather than Charles Dickens and Lewis Carroll.”

Harold Bloom (1930–2019) American literary critic and scholar

Sadness, Reading

“Is he having a party?" "Dorian is a sociable king. He likes keeping people around him, mostly so he can mock them.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Storm Born

People

“That one,"-he nodded toward the closed door-" will rule more than just Attolia before he is done. He is an Annux, a king of kings.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

“Me? I'm the king of the twentieth century. I'm the bogeyman. The villain… The black sheep of the family.”

Alan Moore V for Vendetta

Variant: I'm the king of the 20th century. I'm the boogeyman, the villian, the black sheep of the family.
Source: V for Vendetta

Family

“Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated”

Robert Greene book The 48 Laws of Power

Source: The 48 Laws of Power

Fashion

“Real solemn history, I cannot be interested in…. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars and pestilences in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all.”

Jane Austen (1775–1817) English novelist

Women, Men, War, History

“He fought as he wished he had all those years ago, for the chance he had missed. In that moment between storms--when the rain stilled and the winds drew in their breaths to blow--he danced with the slayer of kings, and somehow held his own.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

Chance, Dance

“Chess is all about getting the king into check, you see. It's about killing the father. I would say that chess has more to do with the art of murder than it does with the art of war.”

Arturo Pérez-Reverte book The Flanders Panel

Source: The Flanders Panel

War, Art

“The bards sing of love, they celebrate slaughter, they extol kings and flatter queens, but were I a poet I would write in praise of friendship.”

Bernard Cornwell book The Winter King

Source: The Winter King

Love, Friendship, Singing

“And if anyone asks, you're Chinese. The boy had nodded. "Chinese," he whispered. "I'm Chinese." "And I," said the girl, "am the Queen of Spain." "In your dreams," said the boy. "In my dreams," said the girl, "I'm the King.”

Julie Otsuka (1962) writer

Source: When the Emperor Was Divine

Dreams, Girl, Boy

“Amy gritted her teeth. "King Louis XVI even put Franklin's picture on a chamber pot!"
Jonah looked at his dad. "Do we have souvenir chamber pots?"
"No." His dad whipped out his phone. "I'll make the call.”

Rick Riordan The Maze of Bones

Source: The Maze of Bones

“But what are kings, when regiment is gone,
But perfect shadows in a sunshine day?

- Edward II, 5.1”

Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) English dramatist, poet and translator

Perfection

“Anyone who can steal the king's seal ring can manage the locks on his record room.”

Megan Whalen Turner The Thief

Source: The Thief

“I want to be like Gandhi and Martin Luther King and John Lennon but i want to STAY ALIVE.”

Madonna (1958) American singer, songwriter, and actress

“And none at all has ridden at the king's side since Aerinha, goddess of honor and flame, first taught men to forge their blades. You'd think Aerinha would have had better sense.”

Robin McKinley book The Hero and the Crown

Source: The Hero and the Crown

Men, Thinking, Sense

“If I ever become a king, I’m totally going to ask him for an army of giant golden acid-spitting llamas. Okay, sorry. I got distracted again.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

Source: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

“Upon being asked by a fan how to become a writer, Stephen King replied, "Write.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

“If you are not royalty, He is not King.”

Beth Moore (1957) American evangelist

“Cast me into a dungeon;, burn me at the state, crown me king of kings, I can 'pursue happiness' as long as my brain lives -- but neither gods nor saints, wise men nor subtle drugs, can insure that I will catch it.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Starship Troopers

Source: Starship Troopers

Men, God, Happiness

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Ozymandias

Source: Ozymandias

Despair

“We kings do develop a certain ability to recognize objects under our noses.”

Robin McKinley book The Hero and the Crown

Source: The Hero and the Crown

“Pigmentation was a quick and convenient way of judging a person. One of us, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once proposed we instead judge people by the content of their character. He was shot.”

Jon Stewart book Earth (The Book)

Source: Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race

People, Way, Personality

“And today the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course… all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.”

Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books

Yertle the Turtle (1958)

“Then I lost him for a brief period of time, and by the time I caught up with him, he had wandered into Hyde Park, waded into the Serpetine, spread his arms wide, and was shouting, 'Ducks, embrace me as your king!”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Midnight Heir

Time

“Your boyfriend is…well, way buff. Monster buff. Lord, king buff. (Sunshine)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon Fantasy Lover

Source: Fantasy Lover

Way

“It's not the tales of Stephen King that I've read,
I need protection from the things in my head…”

Jimmy Buffett (1946) American singer–songwriter and businessman

Reading

“Come, hunt with me, the invitation whispers in my heart. Leave the pain behind and let your life be your own again. There is a place where all time is now, and the choices are simple and always your own.
Wolves have no kings.”

Robin Hobb book Royal Assassin

Variant: Leave the pain behind and let your life be your own again. There is a place where all time is now, and the choices are simple and always your own.

Wolves have no kings
Source: Royal Assassin

Life, Pain, Time, Heart

“All kings are blind. The good ones see this and use more than their eyes to lead.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Avenged