Quotes from The Other Boleyn Girl

“You can smile when your heart is breaking because you're a woman.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“If it means something, take it to heart. If it means nothing, it's nothing. Let it go.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't do anything but think about him. At night I dream of him, all day I wait to see him, and when I do see him my heart turns over and I think I will faint with desire.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I would know you anywhere for my true love. Whoever I was and whoever you were, I would know you at once for my true love.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“The world hasn't changed that much; men still rule.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“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, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I never thought it would end like this. I never thought he would leave me without saying goodbye.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I shall be dark and French and fashionable and difficult. And you shall be sweet and open and English and fair. What a pair we shall be! What man can resist us?”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“He is my brother. She is my sister. Come what will, they are my kin.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Anyone can attract a man. The trick is to keep him.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I was born to be your rival,' she [Anne] said simply. 'And you mine. We're sisters, aren't we?”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I am too dark in my heart tonight.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Tell my daughter Elizabeth -- no! Tell all my daughters, everywhere, in all the ages yet to come. Tell them how I died, and why. And tell them to remember this: the future is unwritten. Know your rights.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I woke at dawn every morning to his touch, the delight of his warmth and the heady smell of his skin. I had never before lain with a man who had loved me completely, for myself, and it was a dizzy experience. I had never lain with a man whose touch I adored without any need to hide my adoration, or exaggerate it, or adjust it at all. I simply loved him as if he were my one and only lover, and he loved me too with the same simplicty of appetite and disire which made me wonder what I thought I had been doing all those years when I had been dealing in the false coin of vanity and lust. I had not known then that all along there had been this other currency of pure gold.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“When they see us dance. When they see how you look at me. When they see how I smile at you.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I had meant my promise to George. I had said that I was, before anything else, a Boleyn and a Howard through and through; but now, sitting in th shadowy room, looking out over the gray slates of the city, and up at the dark clouds leaning on the roof of Westminster Palace, I suddenly realized that George was wrong, and that my family was wrong, and that I had been wrong-- for all my life. I was not a Howard before anything else. Before anything else I was a woman who was capable of passion and who had a great need and a great desire for love, I didn't want the rewards for which Anne had surrendered her youth. I didn' want the arid glamour of George's life, I wanted the heat and the sweat and the passion of a man that I could love and trust. And I wanted to give myself to him: not for advantage, but for desire.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Before anything else I was a woman who was capable of passion and who had a great need and a great desire for love.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Every woman has to have something which singles her out, which catches the eyes, which makes her the center of attention. I am going to be french.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Some women attract desire. Others do not.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Oh yes. Draw your hem back from my mud, little sister.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“We're going' Anne said firmly.
So soon?' Percy pleaded. 'But stars come out at night.'
Then they fade at dawn', Anne replied. 'This star needs to veil herself in darkness.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“When it's done, it's done. And no one will know until it's done.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Good Evening , Sir John. I hope that you will accept a little gift from me.'
I should be honored, Your Majesty.'
I want to give you a little carved stool from my privy chambers. A pretty little piece from France. I hope you will like it.'
I should be grateful.'
It is for your daughter. For Jane. To sit on. She seems not to have a seat of her own but she must borrow mine.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“When they launch snakes you'll have your namesake.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“We might, either of us, be Queen of England and yet we'll always be nothing to our family.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“You can smile when your heart is breaking because you are a woman, and a courtier, and a Howard. That's three reasons for being the most deceitful creature on God's earth.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.'

After being blindfolded and kneeling at the block, she repeated several times:
To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesu receive my soul.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Katherine of Aragon was speaking out for the women of the country, for the good wives who should not be put aside just because their husbands had taken a fancy to another, for the women who walked the hard road between kitchen, bedroom, church and childbirth. For the women who deserved more than their husband's whim.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“I would play ball with Catherine, and hide and seek: Not a very challenging game in an open meadow, but she was still at the age where she believed that if she shut her eyes and buried her head under a shawl then she could not be seen.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

“Stars in the night,' he said. 'Something something something something, some delight”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Other Boleyn Girl

Video

About the author

Popular quotes

“Like all of us sinners, General Betrishchev was endowed with many virtues and many defects. Both the one and the other were scattered through him in a sort of picturesque disorder. Self-sacrifice, magnanimity in decisive moments, courage, intelligence--and with all that, a generous mixture of self-love, ambition, vanity, petty personal ticklishness, and a good many of those things which a man simply cannot do without.”
― Nikolai Gogol, quote from Dead Souls

“And her sleep was too long and deep for that:so deep that she left her normal reality behind.”
― Haruki Murakami, quote from After Dark

“He put a hand to my face and guided my eyes to his. "We never lost that. As much as I tried, I could never erase you from my heart. That's why I was such an asshole and kept guys away from you. You were always mine."

"Are you mine?" I asked as I wiped my tears.

He kissed the corners of my mouth softly, and I felt the heat rise up my neck. "Always have been," he whispered against my mouth.”
― Penelope Douglas, quote from Bully

“Some say the Tudors transcend this history, bloody and demonic as it is: that they descend from Brutus through the line of Constantine, son of St Helena, who was a Briton. Arthur, High King of Britain, was Constantine's grandson. He married up to three women, all called Guinevere, and his tomb is at Glastonbury, but you must understand that he is not really dead, only waiting his time to come again.

His blessed descendant, Prince Arthur of England, was born in the year 1486, eldest son of Henry, the first Tudor king. This Arthur married Katharine the princess of Aragon, died at fifteen and was buried in Worcester Cathedral. If he were alive now, he would be King of England. His younger brother Henry would likely be Archbishop of Canterbury, and would not (at least, we devoutly hope not) be in pursuit of a woman of whom the cardinal hears nothing good: a woman to whom, several years before the dukes walk in to despoil him, he will need to turn his attention; whose history, before ruin seizes him, he will need to comprehend.

Beneath every history, another history.”
― Hilary Mantel, quote from Wolf Hall

“God, why does a mortal man have children? It is senseless to love anything this much.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Animal Dreams

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.