Boleyn Traitor Quotes

“All that is needed to defeat a tyrant is the courage to say ‘no’.”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“Tyranny is the theme of this novel, written in difficult times when so-called ‘strong men’ (or those who posture as strong), are in power. All of us have to decide what offence against our institutions, against our traditions, against our liberties, or against the liberties and lives of others, is our sticking point: the point where we say ‘no’. History tells us that we must find the courage to defend others, and our country’s institutions and traditions before the danger is immediate and personal. By the time the tyrant comes for us – it is too late. We must not be like Jane Boleyn, recognising the dangers too late to say ‘no’, or we will be silenced like her, and the tyrant will write our history, too.”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“History tells us that we must find the courage to defend others”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“I have to teach the little girl I once was, that to be used is not the same as to be loved. When I know that, when it is clear to me, like a theorem becomes clear on the page, I think I have completed my education in heartbreak.”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“Agnes”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“of the king through enchantment”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“There is no one left who dares to quarrel with him. There is no one who dares to contradict him. No one would ever suggest that he is wrong. ... We have agreed to insane laws and now find ourselves in a legal tyranny. We have winked at manic cruelty, and now we close our eyes in fear. We thought that we were steering a galloping horse, but we are tangled in the reins and being dragged to our deaths. We have birthed and dandled and fed a tyrant, and now we do not even mourn when our monstrous baby kills a woman that he once called 'the finest in England.”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“a friend is more dangerous than an enemy!”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“History tells us that we must find the courage to defend others, and our country's institutions and traditions before the danger is immediate and personal. By the time the tyrant comes for us - it is too late. We must not be like Jane Boleyn, recognising the dangers too late to say "no", or we will be silenced like her, and the tyrant will write our history, too.”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“Tyrants corrupt good institutions against their people; Henry VIII did this five centuries ago. Tyranny is the theme of this novel”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor

“Is it the king’s will or that of bad advisors?”
― Philippa Gregory, Boleyn Traitor