I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it some day for a crown.

-Bennard, George
  'The Old Rugged Cross'.

Avirtuouswomanisa crowntoher husband: but shethat maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

-Bible (Old Testament)
Proverbs12:4.

Many kings have sat down upon the ground; and one that was never thought of hath worn the crown.

-Bible (Apocrypha)
Ecclesiasticus11:5.

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

-Bible (NewTestament)
Revelation 2:10.

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

-Bible (NewTestament)
Revelation12:1.

The strongest poison ever known Came from Ceasar's laurel crown.

-Blake,William
c.1803  Auguries of Innocence, l.97^8.

Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion.To attack the first isnottoassail the last.To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.

-Bronte«  , Charlotte
  Jane Eyre (2nd edn), preface.

The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown: The Lion beat the Unicorn all round the town. Some gave them white bread, some gave them brown; Some gave them plum-cake and drummed them out of town.

-Dodgson
Through the Looking-Glass, ch.7,'The Lion and the Unicorn'.

   The dominion of the sea, as it is an ancient and undoubted right of the crown of England, so it isthe best security of the land† The wooden walls are the best walls of this kingdom.

-Coventry,Thomas, 1st Baron
  Speech to the Star Chamber,17  Jun.'Wooden walls'refers to ships.

He stood at bold defiance with his prince; Held up the buckler of the people's cause Against the crown, and skulked behind the laws.

-Dryden,John
Absalom and  Achitophel, pt.1, l.205^7.

Let old Timotheus yield the prize, Or both divide the crown: He raised a mortal to the skies; She drewan angel down.

-Dryden,John
  Of 'Divine Cecilia'.  Alexander's Feast, l.177^80.

Desire paces Eternityas if it had bounds, craving death. The Word climbs upward into Its crown.

-Dunbar,William
  Roots and Branches,'Structure of Rime X VII'.

The influence of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished.

-Dunning,John
  Motion passed by the House of Commons.

To be a King and towear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it.

-Elizabeth I
  Address to parliament. Quoted in G R Elton Renaissance and Reformation1300^1648 (2nd edn,1968), p.134.

The British Empire has advanced to a new conception of autonomyand freedom, to the idea of a system of British nations, each freely ordering its own individual life, but bound together in unity byallegiance to one Crown, and co-operating in all that concerns the common weal.

-GeorgeVI
  Opening, as Duke ofYork, the first  Australian Parliament to assemble in Canberra, 9 May.

Content's a kingdom, and I wear that crown.

-Heywood,Thomas
c.1607  A Woman Killed  with Kindness, sc.7.

He was my crowned King, and if the Parliamentary authority of England set the crown upon a stock, I will fight for that stock: And as I fought then for him, I will fight for you, when you are established by the said authority.

-Norfolk
  Explaining before the future Henry VII his reasons for siding with Richard III at Bosworth, 22  Aug. Quoted in William Camden Remains Concerning Britain (1605).

Minds that are great and free, Should not on fortune pause, 'Tis crown enough to virtue still, her own applause.

-Jonson, Ben
The Underwood,'An Ode to Himself' (published1640).

'Ave you 'eard o'the Widow at Windsor With a hairy gold crown on 'er 'ead? She 'as ships on the foamöshe 'as millions at 'ome, An'she pays us poor beggars in red.

-Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard
  'The Widow at  Windsor'.

A god is not so glorious as a king. I think the pleasure they enjoy in Heaven, Cannot compare with kingly joys in earth. To wear a crown enchased with pearl and gold, Whose virtues carry with it life and death; To ask and have, command and be obeyed; When looks breed love, with looks to gain the prize, Such power attractive shines in princes'eyes!

-Marlowe, Christopher
  Tamburlaine the Great (published1590), pt.1, act 2, sc.5.