uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Henry IV, Part 2.[1]
Proverb
[edit]uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
- A person of high rank or status has more problems than those of lower rank.
- 1914, Upton Sinclair, Sylvia's Marriage[1]:
- Such terrors as these were unguessed by me in the days of my obscurity. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, uneasy also, lies the wife of that head, and the best friend of the wife. I dismissed my stenographer, and spent ten or fifteen restless minutes until Sylvia appeared.
See also
[edit]- it's lonely at the top
- the bigger they are, the harder they fall
- the highest branch is not the safest roost
References
[edit]- ^ c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 85, column 2:
- Then happy Lowe lye downe, / Vneaſie lyes the Head, that weares a Crowne.