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This is no Henry VIII to command obedience by sheer force of personality; rather, Richard’s image enacts kingship itself, around a curious void. As an individual, he is absent from the portrait; as king, he is presented for our veneration.

— Laura Ashe Richard II: A Brittle Glory (2016)

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More quotes by Laura Ashe

Being thought to be untrustworthy is no better – indeed in political terms much worse – than actually being untrustworthy.

Richard II: A Brittle Glory (2016)

Richard’s will was sovereign, and yet it could not be trusted not to change. He had demonstrated that he would erase history, change the statutes of the realm, rather than remit his desires.

Richard II: A Brittle Glory (2016)

It took a particular genius and a great deal of luck to make war pay, and Richard had neither.

Richard II: A Brittle Glory (2016)

The Londoners’ faithful love and their money were both important to Richard; unfortunately he sought the latter at the expense of the former, while imagining them to be the same thing.

Richard II: A Brittle Glory (2016)

This kind of moral analysis is characteristic of medieval thought: the aim is to condemn where condemnation is due, but to salvage from the criticism the ideals which animate and support society.

Richard II: A Brittle Glory (2016)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Laura Ashe (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.