Queen Elizabeth II Quotes
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[On the 1982 intruder into her bedroom:] I realized immediately that it wasn't a servant because they don't slam doors.
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Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.
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I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else - I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.
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The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load.
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We have all felt those emotions in these last few days. So what I say to you now, as your queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.
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My husband has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years, and I owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim.
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The British Constitution has always been puzzling and always will be.
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There are long periods when life seems a small, dull round, a petty business with no point, and then suddenly we are caught up in some great event which gives us a glimpse of the solid and durable foundations of our existence.
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I should like to be a horse.
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Think what we would have missed if we had never ... used a mobile phone or surfed the Net -- or, to be honest, listened to other people talking about surfing the Net.
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I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
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It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained.
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I hope that tomorrow we can all, wherever we are, join in expressing our grief at Diana's loss, and gratitude for her all-too-short life. It is a chance to show to the whole world the British nation united in grief and respect.
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Work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on earth.
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Experience shows that great enterprises seldom end with a tidy and satisfactory flourish. Together, we are doing our best to re-establish peace and civil order in the Gulf region, and to help those members of civil and ethnic minorities who continue to suffer through no fault of their own. If we succeed, our military success will have achieved its true objective.
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At Christmas, I am always struck by how the spirit of togetherness lies also at the heart of the Christmas story. A young mother and a dutiful father with their baby were joined by poor shepherds and visitors from afar. They came with their gifts to worship the Christ child.
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We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep.
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It has been women who have breathed gentleness and care into the hard progress of humankind.
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[On being criticized for her serious expression:] I simply ache from smiling. Why are women expected to beam all the time? It's unfair. If a man looks solemn, it's automatically assumed he's a serious person, not a miserable one.
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[To the suggestion that Great Britain might someday want a Republic:] We'll go quietly.
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First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her - for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys.
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I have to be seen to be believed.
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I have behind me not only the splendid traditions and the annals of more than a thousand years but the living strength and majesty of the Commonwealth and Empire; of societies old and new; of lands and races different in history and origins but all, by God's Will, united in spirit and in aim.
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In the turbulence of this anxious and active world many people are leading uneventful, lonely lives. To them dreariness, not disaster, is the enemy. They seldom realize that on their steadfastness, on their ability to withstand the fatigue of dull repetitive work, and on their courage in meeting constant small adversities depend in great measure the happiness and prosperity of the community as a whole. ... The upward course of a nation's history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women.
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What were once only hopes for the future have now come to pass.
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Madam President, speaking here in Dublin Castle it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as it was yesterday when you and I laid wreaths at the Garden of Remembrance.
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When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.
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For Christians, as for all people of faith, reflection, meditation and prayer help us to renew ourselves in God's love, as we strive daily to become better people. The Christmas message shows us that this love is for everyone. There is no one beyond its reach.
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[To a woman whose cellphone rang during a formal meeting:] You'd better answer that. It could be someone important.
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I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast.
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