--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I find that I sent wolves not shepherds…" description: "\"I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over!\" — Elizabeth I" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d62/elizabeth-i-3475_ashes_i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds_2269121.jpg" --- # I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland… ![“I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over!” quote by Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d62/elizabeth-i-3475_ashes_i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds_2269121.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d62/elizabeth-i-3475_ashes_i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds_2269121.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d62/elizabeth-i-3475_ashes_i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds_2269121.jpg) > “I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over!” [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She likens her rule over Ireland to sending wolves instead of shepherds, highlighting chaos and destruction. **In simple terms:** Her governance felt destructive. Key Takeaway Seek compassionate leadership. Themes politics leadership conflict Mood somber critical Type political historical When to use this quote - government policy - military occupation - community rebuilding - peace negotiations Key Concepts authority misrule colonialism Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities do leaders have to protect? - How can power be exercised responsibly? A Different Perspective Her metaphor may exaggerate reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes/) [Ireland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ireland/) [Irish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irish/) [Reign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reign/) [Shepherds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shepherds/) [Wolves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wolves/) ## Related quotes > [“Since the local church is “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15b), its leaders must be rock-solid pillars of biblical doctrine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-strauch/since-the-local-church-is-the-pillar-and-support-of-the-truth-1-tim-3/) [Alexander Strauch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-strauch/) > [“What was she left with but ashes and darkness once the light of the flame went out? The smell of smoke lingered like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-overby/what-was-she-left-with-but-ashes-and-darkness-once-the-light-of-the/) [Eric Overby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-overby/) > [A building get torched. All that is left is ashes. I used to think that it is true about everything - family, friends, feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah/a-building-get-torched-all-that-is-left-is-ashes-i-used-to-think-that/) [Sarah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah/) > [“All I had left were her ashes and her clothes. I tried them all on locked in her bedroom. She had followed her own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riitta-klint/all-i-had-left-were-her-ashes-and-her-clothes-i-tried-them-all-on/) [Riitta Klint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riitta-klint/) > [I'm thinking maybe letting the latches burn is the right idea. Let everything burn until there's nothing left but ashes and cool rain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodman-philbrick/i-m-thinking-maybe-letting-the-latches-burn-is-the-right-idea-let/) [Rodman Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodman-philbrick/) > [For, what is a family without a steward, a ship without a pilot, a flock without a shepherd, a body without a head, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/for-what-is-a-family-without-a-steward-a-ship-without-a-pilot-a-flock/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [Many people have heard the remarkable example of devotion involving a Skye terrier dog who worked for a Scottish shepherd named Old Jock. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-moussaieff-masson/many-people-have-heard-the-remarkable-example-of-devotion-involving-a/) [Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-moussaieff-masson/) > [“The shepherds were invited to come and see. They saw. They trembled. They testified. They rejoiced. They saw Him wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/the-shepherds-were-invited-to-come-and-see-they-saw-they-trembled/) [Marvin J. Ashton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [When I gaze into the stars, they look down upon me with pity from their serene and silent spaces, like eyes glistening with tears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/when-i-gaze-into-the-stars-they-look-down-upon-me-with-pity-from/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Loving God, help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/loving-god-help-us-remember-the-birth-of-jesus-that-we-may-share-in/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [“The emerald life of shepherds always reminds us the romantic and humble life we have lost due to living in the cities!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/the-emerald-life-of-shepherds-always-reminds-us-the-romantic-and/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [As a leader... I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-a-leader-i-have-always-endeavored-to-listen-to-what-each-and-every/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david/the-lord-is-my-shepherd-i-shall-not-want-he-maketh-me-to-lie-down-in/) [David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david/) > [It is a fool of a shepherd who culls his dogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-smith/it-is-a-fool-of-a-shepherd-who-culls-his-dogs/) [Jefferson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-smith/) ## More by Elizabeth I > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-do-not-so-much-rejoice-that-god-hath-made-me-to-be-a-queen-as-to-be/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [It is monstrous that the feet should direct the head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/it-is-monstrous-that-the-feet-should-direct-the-head/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [I cannot find it in me to fear a man who took ten years a learning of his alphabet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-cannot-find-it-in-me-to-fear-a-man-who-took-ten-years-a-learning-of/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [I grieve and dare not show my discontent, I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, I do, yet dare not say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-grieve-and-dare-not-show-my-discontent-i-love-and-yet-am-forced-to/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [I have no desire to make windows into men's souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-have-no-desire-to-make-windows-into-men-s-souls/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/let-tyrants-fear-i-have-always-so-behaved-myself-that-under-god-i/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [I would not open windows into men's souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-would-not-open-windows-into-men-s-souls/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [The name of a successor is like the tolling of my own death-bell!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/the-name-of-a-successor-is-like-the-tolling-of-my-own-death-bell/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [Had I been crested, not cloven, my Lords, you had not treated me thus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/had-i-been-crested-not-cloven-my-lords-you-had-not-treated-me-thus/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [I pluck up the good lissome herbs of sentences by pruning, eat them by reading, digest them by musing, and lay them up at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-pluck-up-the-good-lissome-herbs-of-sentences-by-pruning-eat-them-by/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [Eyes of youth have sharp sight but commonly not so deep as those of elder age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/eyes-of-youth-have-sharp-sight-but-commonly-not-so-deep-as-those-of/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-do-not-so-much-rejoice-that-god-hath-made-me-to-be-a-queen-as-to-be-2/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [It has been always held for a special principle in friendship that prosperity provideth but adversity proveth friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/it-has-been-always-held-for-a-special-principle-in-friendship-that/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [There is a close tie of affection between sovereigns and their subjects; and as chaste wives should have no eyes but for their husbands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/there-is-a-close-tie-of-affection-between-sovereigns-and-their/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) [Explore all 130 Elizabeth I quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) ## More Ashes quotes > [You can flush my ashes down the toilet, for all I care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-flush-my-ashes-down-the-toilet-for-all-i-care/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-is-gold-does-not-glitter-not-all-those-who-wander-are-lost/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't want to have a gravestone. I want to have all my friends burn me and then snort the ashes. I think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/i-don-t-want-to-have-a-gravestone-i-want-to-have-all-my-friends-burn/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [He said that he will never let you cry,he will always be there for you no matter how hard the situation is,that he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhra/he-said-that-he-will-never-let-you-cry-he-will-always-be-there-for/) Zhra > [“The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-past-is-to-be-learned-from-but-not-lived-in-we-look-back-to-claim/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-any-civilization-is-dust-and-ashes-he-said-art-is-all-that-s/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/man-is-a-noble-animal-splendid-in-ashes-and-pompous-in-the-grave/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [“Bury us, and mark our names above. Let us be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/bury-us-and-mark-our-names-above-let-us-be-free/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [There is nothing quite like an Ashes trip Down Under.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anderson/there-is-nothing-quite-like-an-ashes-trip-down-under/) [James Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anderson/) > [I think momentum is huge in sport, especially in a series like the Ashes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stokes/i-think-momentum-is-huge-in-sport-especially-in-a-series-like-the/) [Ben Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stokes/) > [Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man-yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/mark-how-fleeting-and-paltry-is-the-estate-of-man-yesterday-in-embryo/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“When you burn a bridge, you have to be prepared to live with some ashes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-coppernoll/when-you-burn-a-bridge-you-have-to-be-prepared-to-live-with-some-ashes/) [Chris Coppernoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-coppernoll/) > [I would rather be ashes than dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/i-would-rather-be-ashes-than-dust/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) [Browse all 900 Ashes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth I" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds-to-govern-ireland-for-they/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ashes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds-to-govern-ireland-for-they/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d62/elizabeth-i-3475_ashes_i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds_2269121.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d62/elizabeth-i-3475_ashes_i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds_2269121.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d62/elizabeth-i-3475_ashes_i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds_2269121.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and…” — Elizabeth I", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elizabeth I", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I find that I sent wolves...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds-to-govern-ireland-for-they/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-find-that-i-sent-wolves-not-shepherds-to-govern-ireland-for-they/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```