A Man for All Seasons Power Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from A Man for All Seasons.

Quote #1

WOLSEY: I think we might influence the decision of His Holiness.

MORE: By argument?

WOLSEY: Argument certainly, and pressure.

MORE: Pressure, applied to Church houses, Church property?

WOLSEY: Pressure.

MORE: No, Your Grace, I'm not going to help you.

For More, even if the Pope is a worldly leader and there are various corruptions in the Church, the Vatican's power is still supreme. To his mind, applying "pressure" to the Church is a violation of the terms of the game—it's secular power overstepping its bounds. Wolsey doesn't want a civil war over who will succeed the king, so he has no real problem with attacking the Church.

Quote #2

KING: Those like Norfolk follow me because I wear the crown. Or those like Master Cromwell follow because they're jackals with sharp teeth... and I'm their tiger. A mass follows me... because it follows anything that moves. And then there's you.

More follows the king because he's a principled subject who believes in the rule of law. This makes him different from the others, like Thomas Cromwell. But when that law conflicts with divine law, he goes against the king in a way the others wouldn't.

Quote #3

MORE: Hear me out. You and your class have given in, as you rightly call it... because this country's religion means nothing to you at all.

DUKE: Well, that's a foolish saying for a start! The nobility of England—

MORE: The nobility of England would have snored through the Sermon on the Mount, but you'll labour like scholars over a bulldog's pedigree.

More is attacking Norfolk in order to prevent him from being tarred by the same brush as More. But there's probably truth in what he's saying. Norfolk isn't concerned whether the Catholic Church continues to dominate England and he isn't worried that he'll go to hell or whatever if he follows the king's new church instead. But More is concerned about those things, because he thinks that it matters which institution holds spiritual power.