--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the first play, the crisis is Thomas…" description: "\"“In the first play, the crisis is Thomas More. In the second it’s Anne Boleyn. In the third book, and the third play, it’s crisis every day, an overlap..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/hilary-mantel-440_books_in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-m_1119868.jpg" --- # In the first play, the crisis is Thomas More. In the… ![“In the first play, the crisis is Thomas More. In the second it’s Anne Boleyn. In the third book, and the third play, it’s crisis every day, an overlapping series of only just negotiable horrors. It’s climbing and climbing. Then a sudden abrupt fall - within days.” quote by Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/hilary-mantel-440_books_in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-m_1119868.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/hilary-mantel-440_books_in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-m_1119868.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/hilary-mantel-440_books_in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-m_1119868.jpg) > ““In the first play, the crisis is Thomas More. In the second it’s Anne Boleyn. In the third book, and the third play, it’s crisis every day, an overlapping series of only just negotiable horrors. It’s climbing and climbing. Then a sudden abrupt fall - within days.”” [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power struggles repeat across history, each crisis intensifies personal and societal turmoil. **In simple terms:** History repeats crises that grow worse. Key Takeaway Recognize patterns of escalating conflict. Themes power history crisis Mood reflective serious Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - political leadership - personal relationships - social movements - organizational change Key Concepts political theory human nature Questions to Reflect On - How do you see current events mirroring past crises? - What can break the cycle of escalation? A Different Perspective Not all crises are comparable; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anne Boleyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anne-boleyn/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crisis/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plays/) ## Related quotes > [“Any idiot can face a crisis, it is day to day living that wears you out. —Anton Chekhov”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-idiot-can-face-a-crisis-it-is-day-to-day-living-that-wears-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The great thing about baseball is there's a crisis every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-paul/the-great-thing-about-baseball-is-there-s-a-crisis-every-day/) [Gabe Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-paul/) > [“Any idiot can face a crisis; it's this day-to-day living that wears you out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/any-idiot-can-face-a-crisis-it-s-this-day-to-day-living-that-wears/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [The great thing about baseball is that there's a crisis every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-paul/the-great-thing-about-baseball-is-that-there-s-a-crisis-every-day/) [Gabe Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-paul/) > [Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/any-idiot-can-face-a-crisis-it-s-day-to-day-living-that-wears-you-out/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [As a curator, I've met endless people who feel a 'special connection' with Anne Boleyn, or Victorian prostitutes, or various other unlikely candidates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-worsley/as-a-curator-i-ve-met-endless-people-who-feel-a-special-connection/) [Lucy Worsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-worsley/) > [“The Prince shall think you the most beautiful lady he's ever seen." Alex replied wryly, "Let's hope that's not the case, Eliza. History teaches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-maclean/the-prince-shall-think-you-the-most-beautiful-lady-he-s-ever-seen/) [Sarah MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-maclean/) > [“He raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get this? Is our Anne Boleyn suddenly from Mars?" He chuckled. "I always thought she hailed from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/he-raised-an-eyebrow-where-did-you-get-this-is-our-anne-boleyn/) [Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/) > [I think the thing about Anne Boleyn is there is an exotic quality to her. This is a woman who wasn’t raised in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/i-think-the-thing-about-anne-boleyn-is-there-is-an-exotic-quality-to/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [“By the time of Mary’s second French betrothal, Henry was already beginning to doubt the validity and the usefulness of his marriage to Catherine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/by-the-time-of-mary-s-second-french-betrothal-henry-was-already/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [Anne Boleyn is an intriguing character. She seems to appeal to modern-day women in a very potent way. Because she was such an independently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/anne-boleyn-is-an-intriguing-character-she-seems-to-appeal-to-modern/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [“The audience roared and applauded again. A rush of actors exited the stage and filled the space around her. Shakespeare had already slipped away.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/the-audience-roared-and-applauded-again-a-rush-of-actors-exited-the/) [Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/) > [Famously, Anne Boleyn was not a beauty: she was more about quirkiness and an innate sensuality, and there are a lot of references to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/famously-anne-boleyn-was-not-a-beauty-she-was-more-about-quirkiness/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [“The man behind the counter at the donut store had been somewhat less than courteous ever since I had prematurely tried to hypnotize him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kupperman/the-man-behind-the-counter-at-the-donut-store-had-been-somewhat-less/) [Michael Kupperman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kupperman/) > [There's a part of my heart that forever has Anne Boleyn written on it, who I played in 'The Tudors.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/there-s-a-part-of-my-heart-that-forever-has-anne-boleyn-written-on-it/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) ## More by Hilary Mantel > [People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/people-will-identify-with-a-persecuted-minority-without-asking/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“The hunter is among the most innocent of men; living in the moment makes him feel pure. When he returns in the evening, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/the-hunter-is-among-the-most-innocent-of-men-living-in-the-moment/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“But what would happen … I mean, what would be so awful … if they did meet up?” “Why, it would be like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/but-what-would-happen-i-mean-what-would-be-so-awful-if-they-did-meet/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/when-you-have-committed-enough-words-to-paper-you-feel-you-have-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [At New Year's he had given Anne a present of silver forks with handles of rock crystal. He hopes she will use them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/at-new-year-s-he-had-given-anne-a-present-of-silver-forks-with/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“The story of my own childhood is a complicated sentence that I am always trying to finish, to finish and put behind me. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/the-story-of-my-own-childhood-is-a-complicated-sentence-that-i-am/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“He wants to say, because Anne is not a carnal being, she is a calculating being, with a cold slick brain at work behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/he-wants-to-say-because-anne-is-not-a-carnal-being-she-is-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Come to that, don't pay out good money for horoscopes. If things are going to go badly for you, is that what you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/come-to-that-don-t-pay-out-good-money-for-horoscopes-if-things-are/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“But my sins are my strength, he thinks; the sins I have done, that others have not even found the opportunity of committing. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/but-my-sins-are-my-strength-he-thinks-the-sins-i-have-done-that/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Feminism hasn't failed, it's just never been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/feminism-hasn-t-failed-it-s-just-never-been-tried/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Mirabeau: “If you have been told to clear us from this hall, you must ask for orders to use force. We shall leave our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/mirabeau-if-you-have-been-told-to-clear-us-from-this-hall-you-must/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Cardinal Campeggio has implored Katherine to bow to the king's will, accept that her marriage is invalid and retire to a convent. Certainly, she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/cardinal-campeggio-has-implored-katherine-to-bow-to-the-king-s-will/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Sion calls Anne an eel, he calls her a slippery dipper from the slime, and he remembers what the cardinal had called her: my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/sion-calls-anne-an-eel-he-calls-her-a-slippery-dipper-from-the-slime/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [I spend a great deal of time on research, on finding all the available accounts of a scene or incident, finding out all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-spend-a-great-deal-of-time-on-research-on-finding-all-the-available/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“At the front, people die for their mistakes. Why should politicians be more gently treated? They made the war. They deserve a dozen deaths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/at-the-front-people-die-for-their-mistakes-why-should-politicians-be/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) [Explore all 559 Hilary Mantel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the first play, the crisis is Thomas More. In the second it’s Anne Boleyn. In the third book, and the third play, it’s crisis every day, an overlapping series of only just negotiable horrors. It’s climbing and climbing. Then a sudden abrupt fall - within days.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hilary Mantel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-more-in-the-second-it-s-anne/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-more-in-the-second-it-s-anne/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/hilary-mantel-440_books_in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-m_1119868.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/hilary-mantel-440_books_in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-m_1119868.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/hilary-mantel-440_books_in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-m_1119868.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the first play, the crisis is Thomas More. In the second it’s Anne Boleyn. In the third book, and the…” — Hilary Mantel", "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": "Hilary Mantel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In the first play, the crisis...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-more-in-the-second-it-s-anne/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/in-the-first-play-the-crisis-is-thomas-more-in-the-second-it-s-anne/#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 } } ] } ```