Eleanor of Aquitaine Quotes

“My, what a greedy little trinity you are: king, king, king. Two of you must learn to live with disappointment.”

“Henry: Did the Channel part for you? Eleanor: It went flat when I told it to. I didn’t think to ask for more. How dear of you to let me out of jail.”

“Well, what family doesn’t have its ups and downs?”

“When I married Eleanor, I thought: ‘You lucky man. The richest woman in the world. She owns the Aquitaine, the greatest province on the Continent - and beautiful as well.‘”

“Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It’s 1183 and we’re all barbarians!”

“Eleanor: After all the years of love, the hair I’ve brushed and braided and the tears I’ve kissed away, do you think I could bring myself to hurt you? Alais: Eleanor, with both hands tied behind you.”

“Alais: You saved them. You maneuvered it. Eleanor: Did I? Alais: They’re free because of you. They’ll kill him one day; you know that Eleanor: The next or the next.”

“It’s a heavy thing, your nothing. When I write or send for you or speak or reach, your nothings come. Like stones.”

“For these ten years you’ve lived with everything I’ve lost and loved another woman through it all. And I’m cruel. I could peel you like a pear and God would call it justice ...”