William the Silent quotes

William the Silent was a Dutch nobleman and the main leader of the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which led to the independence of the Netherlands. Often called the "Father of the Fatherland," he played a crucial role in shaping the Dutch nation. He is remembered for his leadership, his advocacy for religious tolerance, and his enduring legacy in Dutch history. Here are 35 of his quotes:

”Farewell count without a head. (William the Silent)
I am resolved, to go and plant myself in Holland or in Zeeland, and there await the issue which it shall please Him to ordain. View quote
William the Silent
In all things there must be order, but it must of such a kind as is possible to observe ... to see a man burnt for doing as he thought right, harms the people, for this is a matter of conscience. View quote
William the Silent
My legal wife is to me dead; the only ecclesiastical authority I recognise pronounces me free; the attacks and threats of men do not disturb me. I am acting according to a clear conscience, and am doing hurt to no man. For my conduct, I will answer to my maker. View quote
William the Silent
We may see how miraculously God defends our people, and makes us hope that, in spite of the malice of our enemies, He will bring our cause to a good and happy end, to the advancement of His glory and the deliverance of so many Christians from unjust oppression. View quote
William the Silent
I cannot approve of monarchs who want to rule over the conscience of the people, and take away their freedom of choice and religion. View quote
William the Silent
Do not kill him! I forgive him my death. View quote
William the Silent
You are staking your own head by trusting the King. Never will I so stake mine, for he has deceived me too often. His favourite maxim is, haereticis non est servanda fides. I am now bald and Calvinist and in that faith will I die. View quote
William the Silent
If they be dead, as I can no longer doubt, we must submit to the will of God and trust in His divine Providence, that He who has given the blood of His only Son to maintain His Church will do nothing but what will redound to the advancement of His glory and the preservation of His Church-however impossible it may appear. And though we all were to die, and all this poor people were massacred and driven out, we still must trust that God will not abandon his own. View quote
William the Silent
They stormed Oudewater, and delivered it over to all imaginable cruelties, sparing neither sex nor age. View quote
William the Silent
My God, my God, have mercy on me, and on my poor people! (William the Silent)
I am no Calvinist, but it seems to me neither right nor worthy of a Christian to seek, for the sake of differences between the doctrine of Calvin and the Confession of Augsburg, to have this land swarming with troops and inundated with blood. View quote
William the Silent
God save the King! View quote
William the Silent
Then Kill me at once! View quote
William the Silent
One need not hope in order to undertake, nor succeed in order to persevere. View quote
William the Silent
I have come to make my grave in this land. View quote
William the Silent
Our friends and allies are all turned cold. View quote
William the Silent
It is the will of God, and we must submit; but I call my God to witness that I have done all that in me lay to save the city, utterly desperate as I knew the attempt to be. When I took in hand the defence of these oppressed Christians, I made an alliance with the mightiest of all Potentates-the God of Hosts, who is able to save us, if He choose. View quote
William the Silent
I will say no more, than that I will act as I shall answer hereafter to God and to man. View quote
William the Silent
Now, we shall see the beginning of a great tragedy. View quote
William the Silent
As in the beginning, so now, and it will be for ever after, we come of a race who are very bad managers in youth, though we improve as we get older. I have cut down the cost of my falconers to 1200 florins, and I hope soon to be out of debt. (William the Silent)
This mercy will be your ruin; you will be at the bridge across which the Spaniards will enter this land. View quote
William the Silent
Sire, have pity on the Spanish infantry, which, for lack of pay and out of sheer starvation, is scouring the low country round, plundering the peasantry in mere need of food. These disorders I cannot repress, much less can I punish them, for necessity has no law. View quote
William the Silent
Would not the German princes at least intercede with Philip? Would they hinder the passage of the royal mercenaries from Germany? Saxony, Hesse, Wurtemburg, and the rest offer excellent advice, to beware of Philip, not to drive him to extremity, to avoid outrages. View quote
William the Silent
All in the world I have is yours; Next to God, you are the one I love best, and if I did not know that your love for me is the same, I could not be so happy as I am: May God give us both the grace to live always in this affection without any guile. View quote
William the Silent