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Success is admirable in a king, but failure is compelling and usually better recorded.

— Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption Edward III: A Heroic Failure (2016)

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Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: Chapter 1, “Edward of Windsor” (p. 4)
Work: Edward III: A Heroic Failure, 2016
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption

Finance was always Edwards III’s weak point. He had little understanding of the problems of taxation or credit and was bored by administration. He tended to fund his enterprises on a hand-to-mouth basis, without budgets or forecasts.

Edward III: A Heroic Failure (2016)

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Edward III had always greatly overestimated the help that conspirators and malcontents could bring him.

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In chess, the capture of the king marks the end of the game. In politics, it may be only the beginning.

Edward III: A Heroic Failure (2016)

Charles understood better than his father or his adversary that the chief material of war was money.

Edward III: A Heroic Failure (2016)

It is one of the paradoxes of England’s medieval history that in spite of its strong central institutions it was known mainly for its chronic political instability.

Edward III: A Heroic Failure (2016)

The government of Mortimer and Isabella was intensely hated. It proved to be just as vindictive, despotic and unstable as that of the Despensers but a great deal less competent.

Edward III: A Heroic Failure (2016)

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