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

“Ali gotovo uvijek idemo najkraćim putem, ravno, pa zaboravljamo da čovjek može napredovati čak i kad ide u krug.”
― Roger Zelazny, quote from The Courts of Chaos


“Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick”
― Bart King, quote from The Big Book of Girl Stuff


“You only have what you give. It’s by spending yourself that you become rich.”
― quote from This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women


“You like my kisses - and I like kissing you. Why deny ourselves such innocent pleasure?”
― Stephanie Laurens, quote from Devil's Bride


“So not only do I have to go out and fight evil villains, I have to take up woodworking, too?”
― Mari Mancusi, quote from Stake That


Interesting books

The Gift
(20.1K)
The Gift
by Cecelia Ahern
Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version
(19.3K)
Fairy Tales from the...
by Philip Pullman
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures
(74.6K)
What the Dog Saw and...
by Malcolm Gladwell
Seven Minutes in Heaven
(6.9K)
Seven Minutes in Hea...
by Sara Shepard
Here Be Sexist Vampires
(15.4K)
Here Be Sexist Vampi...
by Suzanne Wright
The Gospel of Loki
(6.8K)
The Gospel of Loki
by Joanne Harris

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.