King Louis XI Quotes in Quentin Durward (1955)

King Louis XI: [Louis and Burgundy are arguing over which faction to marry Isabelle into] Wait. I have a revolutionary proposal. A shocking proposal. Let us stand aside. Both of us. Let us allow the lady to marry whom she pleases.

Charles, Duke of Burgundy: Marry whom she pleases? I'm too astonished to speak!

King Louis XI: It's rather an immoral notion.

Charles, Duke of Burgundy: You're up to something!

King Louis XI: [Lady Isabelle has selected Durward as a husband] Quentin Durward? Preposterous! No, no.

Charles, Duke of Burgundy: But you agreed. Now, why not?

King Louis XI: It's ridiculous, he's poor, he's a foreigner, he's honest... I don't trust him!

King Louis XI: Once more the shadows darken Paris, and now Charles proposes to hang me from one of my own apple trees - no doubt from the very one I was saving for him.

King's Aid: Salmon do not swim back once they have slipped through your fingers.

King Louis XI: Alas, your bird has flown, Brother Short-Life, but don't fret. I'll clip his wings for him in my own time.

King Louis XI: Your fine-feathered suitor has been revealed in his true plumage.

King Louis XI: Master Villon, you can render your country a great service before you die. You notice that I said "the country" and not "king?"

François Villon: Why the distinction, your majesty?

King Louis XI: Because you seem to have the impression that the king is not as patriotic as you are.

François Villon: The fault is not mine, sire.