Top 100 Elizabeth I Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Grief never ends, but it changes. It is a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness nor a lack of faith: it is the price of love.”

— Elizabeth I

2. “I observe and remain silent.”

— Elizabeth I

3. “A good face is the best letter of recommendation.”

— Elizabeth I

4. “Men fight wars. Women win them.”

— Elizabeth I

5. “God forgive you, but I never can.”

— Elizabeth I

6. “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

— Elizabeth I

7. “A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing.”

— Elizabeth I

8. “I would not open windows into men’s souls.”

— Elizabeth I

9. “There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. All else is a dispute over trifles.”

— Elizabeth I

10. “Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested.”

— Elizabeth I

11. “The past cannot be cured.”

— Elizabeth I

12. “All my possessions for a moment of time.”

— Elizabeth I

13. “If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married.”

— Elizabeth I

Featured in: Being Single Quotes

14. “I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.”

— Elizabeth I

15. “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.”

— Elizabeth I

16. “To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it.”

— Elizabeth I

17. “Eyes of youth have sharp sight but commonly not so deep as those of elder age.”

— Elizabeth I

18. “One man with a head on his shoulders is worth a dozen without.”

— Elizabeth I

19. “There is an Italian proverb which saith, From my enemy let me defend myself; but from a pretensed friend Lord deliver me.”

— Elizabeth I

20. “I cannot find it in me to fear a man who took ten years a learning of his alphabet.”

— Elizabeth I

21. “I would rather go to any extreme than suffer anything that is unworthy of my reputation, or of that of my crown.”

— Elizabeth I

22. “I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the kingdom of England.”

— Elizabeth I

23. “My mortal foe can no ways wish me a greater harm than England’s hate; neither should death be less welcome unto me than such a mishap betide me.”

— Elizabeth I

24. “Had I been crested, not cloven, my Lords, you had not treated me thus.”

— Elizabeth I

25. “Fear not, we are of the nature of the lion, and cannot descend to the destruction of mice and such small beasts.”

— Elizabeth I

26. “I have seen many a man turn his gold into smoke, but you are the first who has turned smoke into gold.”

— Elizabeth I

27. “I have the heart of a man, not a woman, and I am not afraid of anything.”

— Elizabeth I

28. “There is no marvel in a woman learning to speak, but there would be in teaching her to hold her tongue.”

— Elizabeth I

29. “Chastity is the ermine of woman’s soul.”

— Elizabeth I

30. “The stone often recoils on the head of the thrower.”

— Elizabeth I

31. “A fool too late bewares when all the peril is past.”

— Elizabeth I

32. “Ye may have a greater prince, but ye shall never have a more loving prince.”

— Elizabeth I

33. “Though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my crown: That I have reigned with your loves.”

— Elizabeth I

34. “The use of sea and air is common to all; neither can a title to the ocean belong to any people or private persons, forasmuch as neither nature nor public use and custom permit any possession therof.”

— Elizabeth I

35. “For, what is a family without a steward, a ship without a pilot, a flock without a shepherd, a body without a head, the same, I think, is a kingdom without the health and safety of a good monarch.”

— Elizabeth I

36. “When we hang on to resentments, we poison ourselves. As compulsive overeaters, we cannot afford resentment, since it exacerbates our disease.”

— Elizabeth I

37. “The daughter of debate That still discord doth sow.”

— Elizabeth I

38. “They best pass over the world who trip over it quickly; for it is but a bog. If we stop, we sink.”

— Elizabeth I

39. “Hang Irish harpers wherever found.”

— Elizabeth I

40. “He that will forget God, will also forget his benefactors.”

— Elizabeth I

41. “Although I may not be a lioness, I am a lion’s cub, and inherit many of his qualities; and as long as the King of France treats me gently he will find me as gentle and tractable as he can desire; but if he be rough, I shall take the trouble to be just as troublesome and offensive to him as I can.”

— Elizabeth I

42. “Brass shines as fair to the ignorant as gold to the goldsmiths.”

— Elizabeth I

43. “Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects.”

— Elizabeth I

44. “Must! Is must a word to be addressed to princes? Little man, little man! Thy father, if he had been alive, durst not have used that word.”

— Elizabeth I

45. “My care is like my shadow in the sun, Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it, Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done.”

— Elizabeth I

46. “A meal of bread, cheese and beer constitutes the perfect food.”

— Elizabeth I

47. “Those who appear the most sanctified are the worst.”

— Elizabeth I

48. “There is nothing about which I am more anxious than my country, and for its sake I am willing to die ten deaths, if that be possible.”

— Elizabeth I

49. “Young heads take example of the ancient.”

— Elizabeth I

50. “God has given such brave soldiers to this Crown that, if they do not frighten our neighbours, at least they prevent us from being frightened by them.”

— Elizabeth I