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O nation miserable, With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptred, When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again, Since that the truest issue of thy throne By his own interdiction stands accursed And does blaspheme his breed?

This tyrant, whole sole name blisters our tongues, Was once thought honest; you have loved him well; He hath not touched you yet.

But thou know'st this, 'Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss.

I knew him tyrannous; and tyrants' fears Decrease not, but grow faster than the years; And should he doubt it, as no doubt he doth, That I should open to the list'ning air How many worthy princes' bloods were shed To keep his bed of blackness unlaid ope, To lop that doubt, he'll fill this land with arms And make pretense of wrong that I have done him; When all, for mine, if I may call offense, Must feel war's blow, who spares not innocence; Which love to all, of which thyself art one, Who now reproved'st me for't--

For what is he they follow? Truly, gentlemen, A bloody tyrant and a homicide; One raised in blood and one in blood established; One that made means to come by what he hath, And slaughtered those that were the means to help him; A base foul stone, made precious by the foil Of England's chair, where he is falsely set; One that hath ever been God's enemy.

Any excuse will serve a tyrant.

Under conditions of tyranny it is far easier to act than to think.

You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius; but the real tyranny is the tyranny of your next-door neighbour.

The distrust of wit is the beginning of tyranny.

The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins.

The world is made up for the most part of morons and natural tyrants, sure of themselves, strong in their own opinions, never doubting anything.

Under conditions of tyranny, it is far easier to act than to think.

There is a secret pride in every human heart that revolts at tyranny. You may order and drive an individual, but you cannot make him respect you.

Every tyrant who has lived has believed in freedom--for himself.

Hateful is the power, and pitiable is the life, of those who wish to be feared rather than loved.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

Tyranny and anarchy are never far asunder.

Tyrants are seldom free; the cares and the instruments of their tyranny enslave them.

The closed door and the sealed lips are prerequisites to tyranny.

Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.