King Henry II Quotes in Becket (1964)

King Henry II: Your body, madam, was a desert that duty forced me to wander in alone. But you have never been a wife to me!

King Henry II: Am I the strongest or am I not?

Thomas a Becket: You are today, but one must never drive one's enemy to despair; it makes him strong. Gentleness is better politics, it saps virility. A good occupational force must never crush. It must corrupt.

King Henry II: Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?

King Henry II: Have you any idea how much trouble I took to make you noble?

Thomas a Becket: I think so; I recall, you pointed a finger and said, "Thomas Becket, you are noble." The Queen and your mother became very agitated.

King Henry II: There. That's the Great Seal of England. Don't lose it; without the seal, there's no more England, and we'll all have to pack up and go back to Normandy.

Thomas a Becket: Tonight you can do me the honor of christening my forks.

King Henry II: Forks?

Thomas a Becket: Yes, from Florence. New little invention. It's for pronging meat and carrying it to the mouth. It saves you dirtying your fingers.

King Henry II: But then you dirty the fork.

Thomas a Becket: Yes, but it's washable.

King Henry II: So are your fingers. I don't see the point.

King Henry II: [isolating one of his brawling sons from the rest] Which one are you?

Prince Henry: Henry the Third.

King Henry II: NOT YET, SIR!

Thomas a Becket: [returning the Lord Chancellor's ring] Forgive me.

King Henry II: You give the lions of England back to me like a little boy who doesn't want to play anymore. I would have gone to war with all England's might behind me, and even against England's interests, to defend you, Thomas. I would have given away my life laughingly for you. Only I loved you and you didn't love me. That's the difference.

King Henry II: [after a peasant is too intimidated to reply to his question] Odd the number of dumb people I meet when I set foot out of my palace, I rule over a kingdom of mutes.

Thomas a Becket: Honor is a private matter within; it's an idea, and every man has his own version of it.

King Henry II: How gracefully you tell your king to mind his own business.

Thomas a Becket: God rest his soul.

King Henry II: He will, He will. He'll be much more use to God than he ever was to me.

Empress Matilda: Oh, if I were a man!

King Henry II: Thank God, madam, He gave you breasts! An asset from which I derived not the slightest benefit.

King Henry II: He's read books, you know, it's amazing. He's drunk and wenched his way through London but he's thinking all the time.

King Henry II: So what in most people is morality, in you it's just an exercise in... what's the word?

Thomas a Becket: Aesthetics.

King Henry II: Yes, that's the word. Always "aesthetics."

King Henry II: I'm suddenly very intelligent. It probably comes from making love to that French girl last night.

King Henry II: [laughing in both amusement and anger] It's funny! It's too funny! Becket is the only intelligent man in my kingdom, and he's against me!

King Henry II: Are you mad? You're Chancellor of England; you're mine!

Thomas a Becket: I am also the Archbishop, and you have introduced me to deeper obligations.

King Henry II: Do you ever think?

Baron: Never, sire! A gentleman has better things to do!

[Henry and the four barons giggle drunkenly]

Thomas a Becket: We must manage the church. One can always come to a sensible little arrangement with God.

King Henry II: Becket, you are a monster.

Thomas a Becket: You flatter me, My Lord.

Thomas a Becket: Yes, we have soldiers disguised in the crowd to encourage enthusiasm.

King Henry II: Why must you destroy all my illusions?

Thomas a Becket: Because you should have none, My Prince.

King Henry II: I can do nothing. I'm as useless as a woman.

Thomas a Becket: England is a ship. The king is captain of the ship.

King Henry II: That's neat. I like that.

King Henry II: [plotting Becket's arrest] Oh, Thomas!

Bishop Folliot: You love him, don't you? You still love him! That imposter - that Saxon guttersnipe, that mitred hog!

King Henry II: Hold your tongue, priest! All I confided to you was my hate, not my love. For England's sake you'll help me get rid of him. But don't ever insult him to my face!

King Henry II: Don't be nervous, Bishop. I'm not asking for absolution. I've something far worse than a sin on my conscience: a mistake.

King Henry II: Let us drink, gentlemen. Let us drink, till we roll under the table in vomit and oblivion.

King Henry II: Here's my royal foot up your royal buttocks!

King Henry II: The die is cast, Thomas, make the most of it. And if I know you, I'm sure you will.

Thomas a Becket: [bleeding from a cut on his hand from an attacking peasant] My horse bit me.

King Henry II: Hahaha! It's too funny! My lord here makes us all look silly at the jousts with his fancy horsemanship, he goes to his saddlebags, and gets bitten like a groom. You look quite shaken, little Saxon. Funny, I can't bear the thought of you in pain. All this, just to get me a drink?

[first lines]

King Henry II: Well, Thomas Becket. Are you satisfied? Here I am, stripped, kneeling at your tomb, while those treacherous Saxon monks of yours are getting ready to thrash me. Me - with my delicate skin. I bet you'd never have done the same for me. But - I suppose I have to do this penance and make my peace with you. Hmm. What a strange end to our story. How cold it was when we last met - on the shores of France. Funny, it's nearly always been cold - except at the beginning, when we were friends. We did have a few - fine summer evenings with the girls. Did you love Gwendolen, Archbishop? Did you hate me the night I took her from you, shouting "I am the king"? Perhaps that's what you could never forgive me for. Look at them lurking there, gloating. Oh, Thomas, I'm ashamed of this whole silly masquerade. All right, so I've come here to make my peace with their Saxon hero because I need them now, those Saxon peasants of yours. Now I will call them my sons, as you wanted me to. You taught me that, too. You taught me everything. Those were the happy times. You remember, at the peep of dawn, when as usual we'd been drinking and wenching in the town. You were even better at that than I was.

[last lines]

King Henry II: Is the honor of God washed clean enough? Are you satisfied now, Thomas?

King Henry II: [Henry is doing public penance for Becket's death] The honour of God, gentlemen, is a very good thing, and all things considered one gains by having it on one's side. Thomas Becket, our friend, always used to say so...

King Henry II: [Thomas comes to Henry's bedchamber to find the King nursing a hangover] French wine. I had a little too much last night.

Thomas a Becket: It's their major contribution to civilization.

King Henry II: Here's another.

[he pulls back the blankets to reveal a naked young woman]