“It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen.”
Dolly Parton (1946) American singer-songwriter and actress
A collection of quotes on the topic of queen, herring, likeness, king.
“It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen.”
Dolly Parton (1946) American singer-songwriter and actress
Brian May (1947) English musician and astrophysicist
Interview with The Sunday Times, quoted in "Brian May Converts Estate Into Wildlife Refuge", in Contactmusic.com (9 July 2012) http://www.contactmusic.com/queen/news/brian-may-converts-estate-into-wildlife-refuge_1359933.
“I like people to go away from a Queen show feeling fully entertained, having had a good time.”
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) British singer, songwriter and record producer
"The Man Who Would Be Queen" in Melody Maker (2 May 1981).
Context: I like people to go away from a Queen show feeling fully entertained, having had a good time. I think Queen songs are pure escapism, like going to see a good film - after that, they can go away and say that was great, and go back to their problems. I don't want to change the world with our music. There are no hidden messages in our songs, except for some of Brian's.
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) British singer, songwriter and record producer
On Queen, in "Standing Up For Queen" (28 July 1973) http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Group_-_07-28-1973_-_Melody_Maker.
Alexander Rybak (1986) Norwegian singer, actor, violinist, composer, pianist
"Funny Little World" (2009).
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) British singer, songwriter and record producer
"Queen: Live at Wembley" (1986), shortly before performing "Who Wants To Live Forever." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GNJ1SQpxFI
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) British singer, songwriter and record producer
"The Man Who Would Be Queen" in Melody Maker (2 May 1981).
“I am the Queen of France and you are my subject”
Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) Scottish monarch and queen consort of France
Suleiman (1494–1566) Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Mansel, Philip, Constantinople: city of the world's desire 1453-1924 (1995), p. 84
Written to his wife - see the article Hurrem for another translation of this verse.
Poetry
Cristoforo Colombo (1451–1506) Explorer, navigator, and colonizer
Letter to Doña Juana de Torres (October 2015)
“[I] would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.”
Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until 1603
Statement to the envoy of Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg while discussing a proposal of marriage to the duke's son, Christoph. (26 January 1563), quoted by J. Horace Round in "A Visit to Queen Elizabeth," http://books.google.com/books?id=iP0CAAAAIAAJ&q=%22would+rather+be+a+beggar+and+single+than+a+queen+and+married%22&pg=PA629#v=onepage The Nineteenth Century magazine (October 1896)
RuPaul (1960) Actriz de Televisa, dueña y señora de los ejidos cacaoahuateros
Quoted in Let's Talk about Sex: More Than 600 Quotes on the World's Oldest Obsession, Felicia Zopol, ed. (2002)
Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until 1603
The Golden Speech (1601)
Rajneesh (1931–1990) Godman and leader of the Rajneesh movement
Source: Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic (2000), p. 25
Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer
Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
“If this is the way Queen Victoria treats her prisoners, she doesn't deserve to have any.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“It's like chess, you know. The Queen saves the King.”
Terry Pratchett book The Shepherd's Crown
Source: The Shepherd's Crown
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) English writer, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer
Source: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
“All tapes left in a car for more than about a fortnight metamorphose into Best of Queen albums.”
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Source: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
“Sentence first; verdict afterwards." -Queen of Hearts”
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) English writer, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer
“Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world.”
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath
Lewis Carroll book Through the Looking-Glass
Source: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
Lewis Carroll book Through the Looking-Glass
Source: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
“What a strange world we live in… Said Alice to the Queen of hearts”
Lewis Carroll book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Source: Alice in Wonderland
P. C. Cast book Awakened
Source: Awakened
Lewis Carroll book Through the Looking-Glass
Source: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
Rāmabhadrācārya (1950) Hindu religious leader
śaśāṅke kutaḥ śyāmatā jātā ।
pṛcchati jananīmatikutūhalādbālastribhuvanatrātā ॥
kṛṣṇamṛgastava śarabhayādvidhuṃ yāto naitanmātaḥ ।
kapaṭamṛgaṃ praṇihanmi nāparaṃ tasya vimohakhyātaḥ ॥
daśamukhabhayādbhuvo yātā yā vidhuṃ śyāmatā dṛṣṭā ।
kathaṃ rāhubhītoऽsau pāyānmahī mūḍhatāspṛṣṭā ॥
tvamatha vīkṣya candramasaṃ nijadayitānanarūpasamānam ।
śaśini gato śyāmaḥ kila dṛṣṭaḥ kartuṃ tadadharapānam ॥
nahi mātaḥ pīye tava stanaṃ śrutvā manujendrāṇī ।
sasmitamukhī vismitā jātā cakitā giridharavāṇī ॥
Gītarāmāyaṇam
Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until 1603
The Golden Speech (1601)
“Hear oh hear, if my prayer be worthy and such as you yourself might whisper to my frenzy. Those I begot (no matter in what bed) did not try to guide me, bereft of sight and sceptre, or sway my grieving with words. Nay behold (ah agony!), in their pride, kings this while by my calamity, they even mock my darkness, impatient of their father's groans. Even to them am I unclean? And does the sire of the gods see it and do naught? Do you at least, my rightful champion, come hither and range all my progeny for punishment. Put on your head this gore-soaked diadem that I tore off with my bloody nails. Spurred by a father's prayers, go against the brothers, go between them, let steel make partnership of blood fly asunder. Queen of Tartarus' pit, grant the wickedness I would fain see.”
Exaudi, si digna precor quaeque ipsa furenti
subiceres. orbum visu regnisque carentem
non regere aut dictis maerentem flectere adorti,
quos genui quocumque toro; quin ecce superbi
—pro dolor!—et nostro jamdudum funere reges
insultant tenebris gemitusque odere paternos.
hisne etiam funestus ego? et videt ista deorum
ignavus genitor? tu saltem debita vindex
huc ades et totos in poenam ordire nepotes.
indue quod madidum tabo diadema cruentis
unguibus abripui, votisque instincta paternis
i media in fratres, generis consortia ferro
dissiliant. da, Tartarei regina barathri,
quod cupiam vidisse nefas.
Source: Thebaid, Book I, Line 73
Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012) Korean religious leader
The Mission of the Clan Messiah in the Revolutionary Era after the Coming of Heaven http://www.unification.net/2006/20060601_1.html (2006-06-01)
Courtney Love (1964) American punk singer-songwriter, musician, actress, and artist
On developing social skills , The Return of Courtney Love (2006)
2006–2013
Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970) American musician, singer and songwriter
Bold as Love
Song lyrics, Axis: Bold as Love (1967)
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) English writer, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer
Eight or Nine Wise Words About Letter-Writing (1890)
Edith Stein (1891–1942) Jewish-German nun, theologian and philosopher
Essays on Woman (1996), The Separate Vocations of Man and Woman According to Nature and Grace (1932)
U.G. Krishnamurti (1918–2007) Indian philosopher
Part III: Nice Meeting You, and Goodbye
The Courage to Stand Alone (2001)
Walter Bagehot book The English Constitution
No. III, "The Monarchy (continued)", p. 58
The English Constitution (1867)
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
Cited in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The life of Benjamin Disraeli, Rarl of Beaconsfield, Vol. 6 (1920), p. 463, and in Henry W. Lucy, Memories of Eight Parliaments (1908), p. 66.
Sourced but undated
Cassandra Clare The Mortal Instruments
Jace to Alec, pg. 138
The Mortal Instruments, City of Glass (2009)
René Descartes (1596–1650) French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist
Letter to Pierre Chanut (Nov. 1, 1646) as quoted by Amir Aczel, Descartes' Secret Notebook (2005) citing René Descartes: Correspondance avec Elizabeth et autres lettres (1989) ed., Jean-Marie and M. Beysaade, pp. 245-246.
Jerry Lewis (1926–2017) American comedian, actor, film producer, writer and film director
As quoted in "Jerry Lewis on Dean Martin: 'I think of him every day.'" by Alex Scordelis, in The New York Post (26 August 2016) http://nypost.com/2016/08/26/jerry-lewis-on-dean-martin-de-niro-and-his-favorite-joke/
Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until 1603
Response to Parliament (October 1566).
Lady Gaga (1986) American singer, songwriter, and actress
Marry the Night, written by Lady Gaga and Fernando Garibay
Song lyrics, Born This Way (2011)
50 Cent (1975) American rapper, actor, businessman, investor and television producer
Extract of From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens http://aalbc.com/reviews/50_cent_interview.htm. <br class="br">Song lyrics, From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens (2005)
Margrethe II of Denmark (1940) Queen of Denmark
On Queenship, in an interview with the BBC during her Ruby Jubilee http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16537659 (13 January 2012). <br class="br">Queenship
Lloyd Alexander The Chronicles of Prydain
Source: The Chronicles of Prydain (1964–1968), Book V : The High King (1968), Chapter 21 (closing words)
Lady Gaga (1986) American singer, songwriter, and actress
Lady Gaga on Britney Spears http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/300123/lady-gaga-i-don-t-have-time-for-dating/1
Malcolm Lowry book Under the Volcano
Source: Under the Volcano (1947), Ch. X (p. 292)
Ozzy Osbourne (1948) English heavy metal vocalist and songwriter
I Just Want You.
Song lyrics, Ozzmosis (1995)
Aleksandr Pushkin book The Queen of Spades
he exclaimed, seized with terror.
VI.
The Queen of Spades (1833)
John Lydon (1956) English singer, songwriter, and musician
Interview: Seven Magazine in the London Telegraph (6 January 2008)
W.B. Yeats (1865–1939) Irish poet and playwright
The Ragged Wood http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/1673/ <br class="br">In The Seven Woods (1904) <br class="br">Context: p>O hurry where by water among the trees<br>The delicate-stepping stag and his lady sigh,<br>When they have but looked upon their images--<br>Would none had ever loved but you and I!Or have you heard that sliding silver-shoed<br>Pale silver-proud queen-woman of the sky,<br>When the sun looked out of his golden hood?--<br>O that none ever loved but you and I!O hurry to the ragged wood, for there<br>I will drive all those lovers out and cry—<br>O my share of the world, O yellow hair!<br>No one has ever loved but you and I.</p
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) British physicist and mathematician and founder of modern classical physics
Vol. I, Ch. 2: Of the Prophetic Language
Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John (1733)
Context: In the heavens, the Sun and Moon are, by interpreters of dreams, put for the persons of Kings and Queens; but in sacred Prophecy, which regards not single persons, the Sun is put for the whole species and race of Kings, in the kingdom or kingdoms of the world politic, shining with regal power and glory; the Moon for the body of the common people, considered as the King's wife; the Stars for subordinate Princes and great men, or for Bishops and Rulers of the people of God, when the Sun is Christ; light for the glory, truth, and knowledge, wherewith great and good men shine and illuminate others; darkness for obscurity of condition, and for error, blindness and ignorance; darkening, smiting, or setting of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, for the ceasing of a kingdom, or for the desolation thereof, proportional to the darkness; darkening the Sun, turning the Moon into blood, and falling of the Stars, for the same; new Moons, for the return of a dispersed people into a body politic or ecclesiastic.
Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) Catholic saint and founder of the Franciscan Order
Salutation of the Virtues
Context: Hail, queen wisdom! May the Lord save thee with thy sister holy pure simplicity!
O Lady, holy poverty, may the Lord save thee with thy sister holy humility!
O Lady, holy charity, may the Lord save thee with thy sister holy obedience!
O all ye most holy virtues, may the Lord, from whom you proceed and come, save you!
There is absolutely no man in the whole world who can possess one among you unless he first die.
He who possesses one and does not offend the others, possesses all; and he who offends one, possesses none and offends all; and every one [of them] confounds vices and sins.
Holy wisdom confounds Satan and all his wickednesses.
Pure holy simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the flesh.
Holy poverty confounds cupidity and avarice and the cares of this world.
Holy humility confounds pride and all the men of this world and all things that are in the world.
Holy charity confounds all diabolical and fleshly temptations and all fleshly fears.
Holy obedience confounds all bodily and fleshly desires and keeps the body mortified to the obedience of the spirit and to the obedience of one's brother and makes a man subject to all the men of this world and not to men alone, but also to all beasts and wild animals, so that they may do with him whatsoever they will, in so far as it may be granted to them from above by the Lord.
Indíra Gándhí (1917–1984) Indian politician and Prime Minister
Oriana Fallaci. Interview with Indira Gandhi in New Delhi, February 1972
“You would have imagined her at one moment a maniac, at another a queen.”
Victor Hugo book The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Source: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
“For she would be Queen of Lumatere.
But he would be king to her.”
Melina Marchetta Finnikin of the Rock
Source: Finnikin of the Rock
“Think like a queen. A queen if not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.”
Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist
“Be careful dear that you don’t end up as the queen of a lonely kingdom”
Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer
Source: Tempt Me at Twilight
Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer
Source: Quintana of Charyn
“I will not get upset over men, but instead be poised and cool ice-queen.”
Helen Fielding book Bridget Jones's Diary
Source: Bridget Jones's Diary
Richelle Mead book Spirit Bound
Variant: ... but Dimitri... well, my former lover and instructor was in a category all his own. His fighting skills were beyond anyone else's, and he was using them all in defense of me.
"Stay back," he ordered me. "They aren't laying a hand on you.
Source: Spirit Bound
“Oh, don't mind me! Just the queen of the heavens, dying over here!”
Rick Riordan book The Lost Hero
Source: The Lost Hero
“Night falls over Machu Picchu to the sound of Abba's 'Dancing Queen'.”
Michael Palin (1943) British comedian, actor, writer and television presenter
Source: Full Circle