Skip to content

Here lies our sovereign lord the king,
Whose word no man relies on;
He never says a foolish thing,
Nor ever does a wise one.

— John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester Attributed

Another quote →

Source and credibility

Wikiquote lists this as attributed to John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, but no primary source has been found.

Source: Written on the Bedchamber Door of Charles II, as quoted in Robert Chambers, The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities (1832), Vol. II, "July 26", p. 126
Source quality: Secondhand citation Quoted from another book or article rather than from the original.

More by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

The devil played booty, sure, with thee
To bring a blot on infamy.

Nothing, thou elder brother e'en to shade.

Love, the most generous passion of the mind
The softest refuge innocence can find.

A Letter from Artemisia in Town to Chloe in the Country (1680)

Much wine had past, with grave discourse,
Of who fucks who, and who does worse.

Poems on Several Occasions (1680)

But mark what creatures women are:
How infinitely vile, when fair!

Poems on Several Occasions (1680)

He saw her lovely bosom bare,
Her strawberry nipples made him stare.

Reason, an Ignis fatuus of the Mind,
Which leaves the light of Nature, Sense, behind.

A Satire against Reason and Mankind (1679)

For all Men would be Cowards if they durst:
And Honesty's against all common Sense.

A Satire against Reason and Mankind (1679)

All John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester quotes →

Topics

Leadership

More quotes by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

There's not a thing on Earth, that I can name,
So foolish, and so false, as common fame.

Poems on Several Occasions (1680)

Love a woman? You're an ass!
'Tis a most insipid passion
To choose out for your happiness
The silliest part of God's creation.

Poems on Several Occasions (1680)

Dead, we become the lumber of the world.

Poems on Several Occasions (1680)

The Elephant is never won with Anger,
Nor must that man, who would reclaim a Lion,
Take him by the teeth.

Valentinian (1685)

Natural freedoms are but just:
There's something generous in mere lust.

A Ramble in St. James' Park (1672)

All John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester quotes →

You may also like

Political leaders are never leaders. For leaders we have to look to the Awakeners! Lao Tse, Buddha, Socrates, Jesus, Milarepa, Gurdjiev, Krishnamurti.

Henry Miller My Bike & Other Friends (1977)

It's simply to say that managers and investors alike must understand that accounting numbers is the beginning, not the end, of business valuation.

Warren Buffett Letters to Shareholders (1957)

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.

George S. Patton

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

George S. Patton War As I Knew It (1947)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.