Camelot (1967)

Richard Harris: King Arthur

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Quotes 

• King Arthur : [singing]  Don't let it be forgot / That once there was a spot / For one brief shining moment / That was known as Camelot!

• King Arthur : I love them and they answer me with pain and torment. Be it sin or not sin, they have betrayed me in their hearts and that's far sin enough. I can see it in their eyes, I can feel it when they speak, and they must pay for it and be punished. I shall not be wounded and not return it in kind! I'm through with feeble hoping! I demand a man's vengeance!

  [Calming down] 

  King Arthur : Proposition: I'm a king, not a man. And a very civilized king. Could it possibly be civilized to destroy the thing I love? Could it possibly be civilized to love myself above all? What about their pain? And their torment? Did they ask for this calamity? Can passion be selected? Is there any doubt of their devotion to me? To our table?

• King Arthur : All we've been through, for nothing but an idea! Something that you cannot taste, smell, or feel; without substance, life, reality, memory.

• King Arthur : We must arrange for your knighthood.

  Lancelot Du Lac : No, sire! Invest me because of deeds, not words! Give me an order!

  King Arthur : Now?

  Lancelot Du Lac : This moment! Is there some wrong I can right, some peril I can face, some quest I can undertake?

  King Arthur : Well... actually... there's not much going on today. The Queen and some of her court have gone a-maying.

  Lancelot Du Lac : Gone... a-maying?

  King Arthur : Well, it's a sort of... um... picnic? They pick flowers and chase young...

  Lancelot Du Lac : Picnic?

  King Arthur : It's a custom we have here. This is England, you know. And this is the season for gathering flowers.

  Lancelot Du Lac : Knights? Gathering FLOWERS?

  King Arthur : Well, SOMEONE has to do it!

• King Arthur : [sardonically]  Mordred, I must remind you that I am a civilized man. With occasional lapses.

• King Arthur : Proposition. It is far better to be alive than dead.

  Guinevere : Hmm. Far better.

  King Arthur : If that is so, then why do we have wars in which peopIe can get kiIIed?

• King Arthur : I can't quite remember all that Merlyn taught me, but I do remember this. That happiness is a virtue. No one can be happy and wicked. Triumphant, perhaps, but not happy.

• King Arthur : Merlyn, make me a hawk! Let me fly away from here!

• King Arthur : [to Mordred]  Far more seasoned rascals than you have polished their souls, I advise you, get out the wax. Better to be rubbed clean than rubbed out.

• King Arthur : By God, I shall be a king! This is the time of King Arthur, when we shall - reach for the stars! This is the time of King Arthur when violence is not strength and compassion is not weakness. We are civilized!

• King Arthur : There are times when the only vacation spot in the world - is the past.

• [last lines] 

  King Pellinore : Arthur, who was that?

  King Arthur : One of what we aII are, PeIIi! Less than a drop in the great bIue motion of the sunIit sea. But it seems that some of the drops sparkIe, Pelli! Some of them *do* sparkIe! Run, boy! Run, boy! Run! Oh, run - my boy!

• King Arthur : Merlyn told me once, "Never be too disturbed if you don't understand what a woman is thinking. They don't do it very often." But what do you do whiIe they're doing it?

• Lancelot Du Lac : Ginny, I - I love you. God forgive me, but I do.

  Guinevere : Then God forgive us both, Lance.

  King Arthur : [King Arthur runs into the room]  Ginny, Ginny! Oh, what a glorious day!

• Lancelot Du Lac : The next time you traffic with me, remember... you challenge the right hand of King Arthur!

  King Arthur : I *am* King Arthur!

  Lancelot Du Lac : What? You... are the king?

  King Arthur : Almost the *late* king...

• [first lines] 

  A Knight : The rules of battle are not for Lancelot Du Lac, Your Majesty! Let us attack now while they sleep!

  King Arthur : [firmly]  We will attack when I give the command - at dawn.

  [the knight leaves, and Arthur begins to talk to himself] 

  King Arthur : Oh, Merlyn, Merlyn, why is Ginny in that castle, behind walls I cannot enter? How did I blunder into this agonizing absurdity? Where did I stumble? How did I go wrong? Should I not have loved her?

  [sighs] 

  King Arthur : Then I should not have been born! Oh, Merlyn, I haven't got much time. Within an inch of sunlight, the arrows begin to fly. If I am to die in battle, please, please do not let me die bewildered!

  Merlyn : [voice only, far off in the distance]  Think back, Arthur! Think back!

• King Arthur : Proposition. Right or wrong. They have the might. So, right or wrong. They're always right. That's wrong. Right?

• King Arthur : Proposition. If I could choose from every woman who breathes on this earth, the face I would most love, the smile, the touch, the heart, the voice, the laugh, the soul, itself, every detail and feature to the last strand of the hair, they would all be Ginny's.

• King Arthur : Proposition. If I could choose from every man who breathes on this earth, a man for my brother, a man for my son, and a man for my friend, it would all be Lance.

• King Arthur : Revenge... The most worthless of causes.

• Guinevere : Don't stare. It's rude. Who are you?

  King Arthur : ActuaIIy, they caII me Wart, actuaIIy.

  Guinevere : You sure you heard them properIy?

• King Arthur : Wait, please. Don't run, I won't harm you.

  Guinevere : You Iie! You'II Ieap on me and throw me to the ground!

  King Arthur : I won't do any such thing.

  Guinevere : You'II sling me over your shoulder and carry me off!

  King Arthur : No, no, no, no. I swear by the sword ExcaIibur, I won't touch you.

  Guinevere : Why not? How dare you insuIt me in this fashion? Do my Iooks repeI you?

• King Arthur : How - is your mother?

  Mordred : As ravishing as ever. Which is hardIy surprising. Vigilant selfishness is wonderful for the skin.

  King Arthur : And Prince Claudius?

  Mordred : Oh, I haven't seen him in a while. He locked himself in a tower four years ago to get away from Mother.

• King Arthur : We must not let our passions destroy our dreams.

• King Arthur : [after telling Guinevere how he pulled Excalibur from the stone]  That's how I became king. I never knew I would be. I never *wanted* to be! And since I am, I have been ill at ease in my crown... until I dropped from the tree, and my eyes beheld you. And then, for the first time, I *felt* like a king. I was *glad* to be king. and most astonishing of all, I wanted to be the most heroic, the wisest, the most splendid king ever to sit on any throne.

• King Arthur : [singing]  In short, there's simply not / a more congenial spot / for happily ever aftering than here in Camelot.

• King Arthur : Arise, Sir Lancelot.

• Lancelot Du Lac : If the king grants you clemency, you shall be banished. If not, you hang.

  King Arthur : Clemency is granted.

• King Arthur : Ginny, Ginny, suppose we create a new order of chivalry? A new order where might is only used for right! To improve instead of to destroy. Look, we'll invite all the knights, all the kings of all the kingdoms, to lay down there arms to come and join us. Oh yes, Ginny. I will take one of the large rooms in the castle, put a table in it, and all the knights will gather at it.

  Guinevere : And do what?

  King Arthur : Talk across it. Debate. Make laws. Plan improvements!

  Guinevere : But, Arthur, do you think all the knights will ever want to? To do such a ridiculously peaceful thing?

  King Arthur : We'll make it a great honor. Very fashionable! Everyone will want to join! Only now, the knights will whack only for good. Might for right. Might for right. Might - for - right. That's it, Ginny. Might. No, not might is right. Might - For - Right!

  Guinevere : It's very original.

  King Arthur : Yes. Yes-Yes. And civilized, Ginny.

  Guinevere : Arthur, it will have to be an awfully large table. Won't there be jealousy? All the knights will be claiming superiority and want to sit at the head.

  King Arthur : We'll make it - a round table. So, there is no head.

• Lancelot Du Lac : My strength, from purity.

  King Arthur : Well, that's a unique recipe.

  Dap : He is a unique man, your majesty.

• King Arthur : I have stumbled on my future. I-I-I've done - the right thing!

  Lancelot Du Lac : Did you ever doubt it, your majesty?

  King Arthur : Oh, of course. Of course. Only fools never doubt.

• King Arthur : Well, this is appalling Ginny! It will seem to the court that you are championing his defeat!

  Guinevere : We don't know if he'll be defeated. He knocked you unconscious. You woke up his bosom friend. Perhaps he'll knock them out too and they'll all take a house by the sea together.

  King Arthur : Ginny, I realize he's having a difficult time adjusting. He's a stranger! He's not even English. He's French!

  Guinevere : Well, he suffers in translation.

• King Arthur : I'm too young and too old. Too old not to know that fears can be imaginary and too young not to be tormented by them.

• King Arthur : Pelli, call the guard and have this pompous young ass thrown out.

• King Arthur : How could I learn if I couldn't think? And I couldn't think; so, I couldn't learn. But, even to think the thought, I thought. But, even the thought, I'm not thinking a thought, is thinking, isn't it?

  Merlyn : Yes! And thinking, boy, is something you should definitely get into the habit of making use of, as often as possible. Thinking helps in everything. Everything but love, that is. Love is a sort of seventh day, so thinking can rest.

• King Arthur : Suppose we create a new order of chivalry?

  Guenevere : What?

  King Arthur : A new order where might is only used for right! To improve instead of to destroy! We'll invite all the knights, all the kings of all the kingdoms to lay down their arms to come and join us! Oh yes, Ginny. And we'll take one of the large rooms in the castle, put a table in it, and all the knights will gather at it.

  Guenevere : And do what?

  King Arthur : Talk across it. Debate, make laws, plan improvements!

  Guenevere : But Arthur, do you think all the knights will ever want to... to do such a ridiculously peaceful thing?

  King Arthur : We'll make it a great honor. Very fashionable! Everyone will want to join. Only now, the knights will whack only for good. Might for right.

  [pause, then whispering] 

  King Arthur : Might for right... Might for right! That's it, Ginny! Might... No, not might IS right. Might... FOR right!

• King Arthur : What am I?

  Merlyn : You're a hawk!

  King Arthur : Has the hunting season started?

  Merlyn : By George, I believe it has...

  King Arthur : I'm flying higher!

  Merlyn : Look down! Tell me what you see!

  King Arthur : I see lakes, trees, forests!

  Merlyn : Can you see Camelot?

  King Arthur : Oh yes, I can!

  Merlyn : Can you see the next county?

  King Arthur : Uh... yes! I can see the middle of it! It's Greylock Valley, but I can't see the edges of it!

  Merlyn : Can you see the edges when you're down here?

  King Arthur : Of course, I can! The boundaries are clearly marked!

  Merlyn : Then what do you know as a hawk, that you don't know as Arthur?

• King Arthur : [looking over a map]  The map of England! Map indeed... A fishnet of ill-begotten kingdoms ruled by immoral lords, battling with their own unlawful armies over illegal borderlines! And who is king of this... jungle? The man who four years ago pledged he would become the greatest king who ever sat on any throne! I, Arthur of England!

• King Arthur : Oh, what a wonderfuI dream you spin. And how easy it wouId be for me to be caught up in it.

• King Arthur : [singing]  Oh, the expectation, The subIime anticipation, He must feeI about the wedding night to come, WeII, I'II teII you what the King is feeIing tonight, He's numb! He shakes! He quaiIs! He quakes! And that's what the King is doing - Tonight!

• King Arthur : Civilization should have a few gentle hobbies.

• King Arthur : [singing]  In CameIot, CameIot, I know it sounds a bit bizarre...

• King Arthur : MerIyn. He's my teacher. He's the wisest man aIive. He'd know what to do. He Iives backwards.

  Guinevere : I beg your pardon?

  King Arthur : He Iives backwards! He doesn't age. He - 'youthens'. He can remember the - future, so he can teII you what you'II be doing in it.

• King Arthur : Well, we best discuss the program elsewhere. You look far too beautiful my dearest to have anything on your mind other than frolic and flowers.

• King Arthur : [singing]  Do I brood or play the gay romancer?

• King Arthur : [singing]  How to handIe a woman, There's a way, Said the wise oId man, A way known by every woman, Since the whoIe rigamarole began...

• King Arthur : What of teaching me by turning me to animaI and bird? From beaver to the smaIIest bobolink? I shouId have had a whirI, at changing to a girl, to learn the way the creatures think!

• King Pellinore : How can you expect them to care a fig who wins? How can you get a fair decision from peopIe so impartiaI?

  King Arthur : That is preciseIy the point, PeIIi!

• Lancelot Du Lac : The fates have not been kind.

  King Arthur : The fates must not have the Iast word, Lance.

• King Arthur : The adage, "BIood is thicker than water" was invented by undeserving relatives.

• King Arthur , Guinevere : [singing]  The world is bright, And aII is right, And Iife is merry and gay...

• Merlyn : Look down. Look into the water, Wart. TeII me what you see.

  King Arthur : Water, fish, and us.

  Merlyn : Forget the water. Forget us, and think of the fish. Think yourseIf a fish. FeeI yourseIf a fish. Breathe with your giIIs. Now, be - a fish.

• Mordred : Are you alone?

  King Arthur : Not now.

• King Arthur : I have won my battIe, PeIIi. And here is my victory! What we did wiII be remembered.

• King Arthur : I can think no Ionger of what to do except to ride the tide of events. Oh, what foIIy!

• King Arthur : It's those oId uncivilized days come back again. Those days, those - dreadful days that we tried to put asleep forever.

• King Arthur : The TabIe is dead. It exists no more.

• King Arthur : Blast you, Meryln! This is all your fault! You swore that you had taught me everything from A to Z. With nary an omission in between. Well, I shall tell you what, you obviously forgot, that's how a ruler rules a Queen!

• King Arthur : What did you do today, Ginny?

  Guinevere : Oh, just trivial things.

  King Arthur : Ah, that's exactly what I want to hear about. Tempests and tea cups, mountains made out of mole hills, anything, anything. Anything you can think of - that is not fit for a king.

  Guinevere : [singing]  What do the simple folk do? To help them escape when they're blue? The shepherd who is ailing, The milk maid who is glum, The cobbler who is wailing, From nailing his thumb...