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Thomas Paine3 quotes
I compare it to something behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming solemnity; but when by an accident, the curtain happens to be opened, and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter. — Thomas Paine · 1792Monarchy and succession have laid... The world in blood and ashes. — Thomas Paine · 1776What is called monarchy, always appears to me a silly, contemptible thing. I compare it to something kept behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming solemnity; but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be open, and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter. — Thomas Paine · 1792William Blackstone2 quotes
The king, moreover, is not only incapable of doing wrong, but even of thinking wrong: he can never mean to do an improper thing: in him is no folly or weakness. — William Blackstone · 1765That the king can do no wrong, is a necessary and fundamental principle of the English constitution. — William Blackstone · 1765Alan Bennett1 quote
To be heir to the throne is not a position; it is a predicament. — Alan Bennett · 1991Fisher Ames1 quote
A monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft which will never sink, but then your feet are always in the water. — Fisher Ames · 1795Lt. Frank Drebin1 quote
Protecting the safety of the Queen is a task that is gladly accepted by Police Squad. No matter how silly the idea of having a queen might be to us, as Americans, we must be gracious and considerate hosts. — Lt. Frank Drebin · 1988Mark Twain1 quote
The kingly office is entitled to no respect. It was originally procured by the highwayman's methods; it remains a perpetuated crime, can never be anything but the symbol of a crime. — Mark Twain · 1888Walter Bagehot1 quote
The mystic reverence, the religious allegiance, which are essential to a true monarchy, are imaginative sentiments that no legislature can manufacture in any people. — Walter Bagehot · 1867