Chivalry Quotes
47 quotes
"Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can't figure out what from."
"He who defends with love will be secure; Heaven will save him, and protect him with love."
"To risk life to save a smile on a face of a woman or a child is the secret of chivalry."
"The mere management of arms, though essentially requisite, was not sufficient of itself to form an accomplished knight in the times of chivalry; it was necessary for him to be endowed with beauty, as well as with strength and agility of body; he ought to be skilled in music, to dance gracefully, to run with swiftness, to excel in wrestling, to ride well, and to perform every other exercise befitting his situation. To these were to be added urbanity of manners, strict adherence to the truth, and invincible courage. Hunting and hawking skilfully were also acquirements that he was obliged to possess, and which were usually taught him as soon as he was able to endure the fatigue that they required."
"The laws of chivalry required that every knight should pass through two offices: the first was a page; and, at the age of fourteen, he was admitted an esquire. The office of the esquire consisted of several departments; the esquire for the body, the esquire of the chamber, the esquire of the stable, and the carving esquire; the latter stood in the hall at dinner, carved the different dishes, and distributed them to the guests. Several of the inferior officers had also their respective esquires."
"The romantic notions of chivalry appear to have lost their vigour towards the conclusion of the fifteenth century, especially in this country, where a continued series of intestine commotions employed the exertions of every man of property, and real battles afforded but little leisure to exercise the mockery of war."
"His attentive treatment of her had nothing to do with the presumption that she was weak, and everything to do with the conviction that she was valuable."
"Well,” she said. “I’m frustrated.”“Don’t make me angry-kiss you.”“Give me the laundry.”“Tempers rising, faces flushed … This is how it happens."
"In self-defense and in defense of the innocent, cowardice is the only sin."
"I was holding the door for several girls in front of you, and I waited for you to catch up. When you reached me, you looked pleased, and a little surprised. Unlike the others, you didn't expect the door to be held for you by some random guy. You smiled up at me and said, 'Thank you."
"After all of this you're still 'Rayhan the Chivalrous', full of hope and optimism?"
"Politeness is the first thing people lose once they get the power."
"Was it worth it? My death, I mean. Did I die for something worthwhile?"
"The most part of all princes have more delight in warlike manners and feats of chivalry than in the good feats of peace."
"Taking good care of your husband or wife is the best way to thank their parent or parents for having taken good care of them."
"Gentlemen, be courteous to the old maids, no matter how poor and plain and prim, for the only chivalry worth having is that which is the readiest to to pay deference to the old, protect the feeble, and serve womankind, regardless of rank, age, or color."
"Don’t we see that men’s rightful task is to go out to work and wear themselves out trying to accumulate wealth, as though they were our factors or stewards, so that we can remain at home like the lady of the house directing their work and enjoying the profit of their labors? That, if you like, is the reason why men are naturally stronger and more robust than us — they need to be, so they can put up with the hard labor they must endure in our service."
"Whatever the theories may be of woman’s dependence on man, in the supreme moments of her life he can not bear her burdens. Alone she goes to the gates of death to give life to every man that is born into the world. No one can share her fears, no one can mitigate her pangs; and if her sorrow is greater than she can bear, alone she passes beyond the gates into the vast unknown."
"How the little courtesies of life on the surface of society, deemed so important from man towards woman, fade into utter insignificance in view of the deeper tragedies in which she must play her part alone, where no human aid is possible."
"I remembered a definition of chivalry I'd heard once: a man protecting a woman against every man but himself."
"His staff had shaken hands with her as though a woman was merely another kind of man. Fools! The seeds of Eve were in this radiant creature. The lullabyes of half a million years throbbed in her throat. Had they no sense of wonder, no reverence, no pride?"
"Love has little to do with romance and everything to do with honor."
"Certain girls deserve lots of flowers. You are one of them."
"The knight is a man of blood and iron, a man familiar with the sight of smashed faces and the ragged stumps of lopped-off limbs; he is also a demure, almost maidenlike, guest in a hall, a gentle, modest, unobtrusive man. He is not compromise or happy mean between ferocity and meekness; he is fierce to the nth and meek to the nth. The man who combines both characters – the knight – is not a work of nature but of art; of that art which has human beings, instead of canvas or marble, for its medium."
"What a loss it would be if feminism killed chivalry."
"Because of their DNA, most men loved a damsel in distress. Every time a man sees a pretty lass in trouble, even the boorish slob-of-a-man transforms into a chivalrous knight-in-shining-armour. This was why most women (no matter how strong, competent or resourceful) were forced to act shy, demure and helpless so that their men could feel like strong grizzly bears or ferocious mountain lions."
"Every man is sensitive. Some cover it up with brutality, others with cowardice and vanity, but a small few wear it bravely like armor"
"He leaned forward and opened his door, politely standing aside to let me by before following me in. There are some advantages to dating a guy from another era, I thought. Though I am a big believer in gender equality, chivalry scores high in my book."
"As a Texan, I say ma'm and sir to my age contemporaries and open doors for anyone that I can. This goes for men, too, though it is appreciated when they beat me to it and disappointing when they don't."
"Gentleman: An imaginary creature found in Jane Austen novels."
"When boys unite hearts they become gentlemen."
"After only a few moments in her presence, he found himself wondering what dragon he might slay for her."
"The sun, rising and setting in splendid colors, never grows tired of its admirers―much like a lady, aglow with grace, never grows tired of chivalrous acts or pretty flowers."
"Lovers and warriors are not bound by the rules of fair play."
"Wake up! You’re a sacred soul and glory is yours for the taking."
"She was so delicate that, while we sat beneath the linden branches, a leaf would fall and drift down and touch her skin, and it would leave a bruise. So as we sat in the afternoon hour, beneath that fragrant linden bower, I had to chase all of the leafs that fell away."
"In the system of chivalry, men protect women against men. This is not unlike the protection relationship which [organized crime] established with small businesses in the early part of this century. Indeed, chivalry is an age-old protection racket which depends for its existence on rape."
"Many of those who elected to remain might have escaped. 'Chivalry' is a mild appellation for their conduct. Some of the vaunted knights of old were desperate cowards by comparison. A fight in the open field, or jousting in the tournament, did not call out the manhood in a man as did the waiting till the great ship took the final plunge, in the knowledge that the seas round about were covered with loving and yearning witnesses whose own salvation was not assured."
"It was a symposium of horror and heroism, the like of which has not been known in the civilized world since man established his dominion over the sea."
"It is hard to feel safe and comfortable when the only measures for what is safe and comfortable are normative ideas you don't abide by."
Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Outdated: Why Dating Is Ruining Your Love Life
"The truly noble heart sacrifices itself for others’ good, to defend the weak and the good against evil. To a heart like this, a heart devoted to chivalry, courage is a matter of form."
"The only thing I want more than you, is to do right by you."
"At least I’m the one leaving. It’s so much easier to leave than to be left."
"Waiting for one’s execution is worse than dying. To seek my beheading is glory. Who went to his execution willingly? Jesus did. Jesus even dragged his cross half way to Golgotha. I think he would have nailed himself to the cross if he had to."
"The world is an ambitious business. It continuously expands and evolves. But people are lazy and God is far too lovely to do something about it."
"Honor is a balancing act and only the heart can strike that balance."
"The anarch sticks to facts, not ideas. He suffers not for facts but because of them, and usually through his own fault, as in a traffic accident. Certainly, there are unforeseeable things – maltreatments. However, I believe I have attained a certain degree of self-distancing that allows me to regard this as an accident."