Quotes by Elizabeth II

“Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.”

“The upward course of a nations history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women.”

“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”

“I think everybody really will concede that on this, of all days, I should begin my speech with the words `My husband and I.”

“It is as queen of Canada that I am here. Queen of Canada and all Canadians, not just one or two ancestral strains.”

“We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep.”

“It is easy enough to define what the Commonwealth is not. Indeed this is quite a popular pastime.”

“They are not royal. They just happen to have me as their aunt.”

“I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else - I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

“I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast.”

“I have to be seen to be believed.”

“To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in this treasure house, the Bible?”

“Work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on earth.”

“Grief is the price we pay for love”

“The family is the first essential cell of human society.”

In an era when the regular worthy rhythm of life is less eye-catching than doing something extraordinary, I am reassured that I am merely the second sovereign to celebrate a diamond jubilee.

The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts.