Dire Straits Mark

Famous quotes containing the words dire, straits and/or mark:

    Was none who would be foremost
    To lead such dire attack;
    But those behind cried “Forward!”
    And those before cried “Back!”
    Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859)

    Men would never be superstitious, if they could govern all their circumstances by set rules, or if they were always favoured by fortune: but being frequently driven into straits where rules are useless, and being often kept fluctuating pitiably between hope and fear by the uncertainty of fortune’s greedily coveted favours, they are consequently for the most part, very prone to credulity.
    Baruch (Benedict)

    There is a close tie of affection between sovereigns and their subjects; and as chaste wives should have no eyes but for their husbands, so faithful liegemen should keep their regards at home and not look after foreign crowns. For my part I like not for my sheep to wear a stranger’s mark nor to dance after a foreigner’s whistle.
    Elizabeth I (1533–1603)