Quotes from The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Alison Weir ·  643 pages

Rating: (53.1K votes)


“Katherine of Aragon was a staunch but misguided woman of principle; Anne Boleyn an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance; Jane Seymour a strong-minded matriarch in the making; Anne of Cleves a good-humoured woman who jumped at the chance of independence; Katherine Howard an empty-headed wanton; and Katherine Parr a godly matron who was nevertheless all too human when it came to a handsome rogue.”
― Alison Weir, quote from The Six Wives of Henry VIII


“Since arriving in England, Katherine had come to know a freedom she had never dreamed of in Spain, where young women were kept in seclusion and forced to live almost like cloistered nuns. They wore clothes that camouflaged their bodies and veiled their faces in public. Etiquette at the Spanish court was rigid, and even smiling was frowned upon. But in England, unmarried women enjoyed much more freedom: their gowns were designed to attract, and when they were introduced to gentlemen they kissed them full upon the lips in greeting. They sang and danced when they pleased, went out in public as the fancy took them, and laughed when they felt merry.”
― Alison Weir, quote from The Six Wives of Henry VIII


“Only during courtship might a woman briefly gain the upper hand, as both Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour did, but woe betide her if she did not quickly learn to conform once the wedding-ring was on her finger. The”
― Alison Weir, quote from The Six Wives of Henry VIII


“Men, however, were encouraged to sow their wild oats, but a woman who did so became a social outcast and ruined her chances of making a good marriage.”
― Alison Weir, quote from The Six Wives of Henry VIII


“Who does not tremble when he considers how to deal with his wife?’ asked Henry VIII in his treatise A Defence of the Seven Sacraments; ‘for not only is he bound to love her, but so to live with her that he may return her to God pure and without stain, when God who gave shall demand His own again.’ Marriage”
― Alison Weir, quote from The Six Wives of Henry VIII



“a royal bride could come to enjoy considerable power and influence, as did both Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Yet such status and power emanated solely from her husband. She enjoyed no freedoms but those he permitted her. Without him, she was nothing. Queens”
― Alison Weir, quote from The Six Wives of Henry VIII


About the author

Alison Weir
Born place: in London, The United Kingdom
Born date January 1, 1951
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“They were suddenly saying to people with nothing but paper representations of wealth, “Wake up, you idiots! Whatever made you think paper was so valuable?”
― Kurt Vonnegut, quote from Galápagos


“Can you see the power emotion has to distort our outlook? Makes you wonder, did you have a bad day, or did you make it a bad day?” “I thought if I stayed”
― Brandon Mull, quote from Rise of the Evening Star


“Humans withdraw to their homes, and surrender the night to the creatures that own it: the crickets, the owls, the snakes. A world that hasn't changed for hundreds of thousands of years wakes up, and carries on as if the daylight and the humans and the changes to the landscape have all been an illusion.”
― M.L. Stedman, quote from The Light Between Oceans


“Barney's Dad was really bad so Barney hatched a plan
when his dad said "Eat your peas."
Barney shouted no and ran

Barney tricked his mean old dad and locked him in the cellar
Barney's Mom never found out where he'd gone,
Cause Barney didn't tell her.

There his dad spent his life eating mice and gruel
With every bite for fifty years
he was sorry he'd been cruel”
― Bill Watterson, quote from The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury


“So childish, Alex. You’ve ruined her dress.” The vibrant red silk floated around me as I treaded water. “I know. Bad me.”
― Jennifer L. Armentrout, quote from Pure


Interesting books

Sourcery
(63.8K)
Sourcery
by Terry Pratchett
The Future of an Illusion
(4.8K)
The Future of an Ill...
by Sigmund Freud
Don't Die, My Love
(15K)
Don't Die, My Love
by Lurlene McDaniel
Hamilton: The Revolution
(30.4K)
Hamilton: The Revolu...
by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Gone
(26.7K)
Gone
by Lisa McMann
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 1: Back on the Street
(35.9K)
Transmetropolitan, V...
by Warren Ellis

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.