How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from A Man for All Seasons.
Quote #1
MORE: I can't give in, Howard. Our friendship's more mutable than that.
DUKE: Oh, the one fixed point in the world of turning friendship... is that Thomas More won't give in.
MORE: To me it has to be, for that's myself. Affection goes as deep in me as you, I think. But only God is love right through, Howard, and that's my self.
The Duke thinks More is placing mere stubbornness as a higher virtue than friendship. But from More's perspective, he's being true to the religious principles that are so essential to his own being that they are identifiable with his own self. Those religious principles are a manifestation of God's love, which reaches right into the essence of the human being.
Quote #2
DUKE: Oh, confound all this! I'm not a scholar. I don't know if the marriage was lawful or not... but damn it, Thomas, look at these names. Why can't you do as I did and come with us for fellowship?
MORE: And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience... and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?
Norfolk gets slapped—slapped right in the face with an old-timey 15th-century glove. (Well, metaphorically). More phrases his retort in an ironically amusing way—in the scenario he proposes, Norfolk is going to heaven for following his conscience. But is Norfolk following his conscience or just taking the route of convenience along with everyone else?
Quote #3
DUKE: All right. We are at war with the Pope. The Pope's a prince, isn't he?
MORE: He is. He's also the descendant of St. Peter, our only link with Christ.
DUKE: So you believe. And will you forfeit all you have... which includes the respect of your country, for a belief?MORE: Because what matters is that I believe it, or rather, no... not that I believe it, but that "I" believe it. I trust I make myself obscure.
More emphasizes the importance of being true to himself. It's not that he's proud about his beliefs—it's that those beliefs represent the deepest inward truth of his own self. He can't compromise them without damaging his inner being in God's eyes.