How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from A Man for All Seasons.
Quote #1
KING: Now, listen to this. Sit down. Be seated. No courtship, Thomas. You're my friend, are you not?
MORE: Your Majesty.
KING: Thank God I have a friend for my chancellor. Readier to be friend, I trust, than he was to be chancellor.
The king doesn't realize that certain things are more important to More than friendship. He's perfectly willing to sacrifice a friendship for the sake of his religious principles.
Quote #2
CROMWELL: What kind of thing would you repeat or report?
RICH: Well, nothing said in friendship.
CROMWELL: Do you believe that?
RICH: Why, yes.
CROMWELL: No, seriously.
RICH: Well, yes.
CROMWELL: Rich, seriously.
RICH: That would depend what I was offered.
Rich acts like he has principles, but look how quickly the ruse collapses. All that Cromwell has to do in order to get him to betray More is to ask him if he's serious about not betraying him… twice. Basically, Rich is a hollow man.
Quote #3
DUKE: I am your friend. I wish I wasn't, but I am.
MORE: What's to be done then?
DUKE: Give in.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.
The Duke is a far better friend to More than Rich or King Henry. But, still, their friendship is a relative thing when it comes to the question of religious principle. Friendships can fade away or die instantly, but More's faith is so central to his sense of being that he can't compromise on it or budge at all. His love for God's law is at the core of his being.