A Man For All Seasons

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on April 11, 2008 at 22:15:

In Reply to: A Man For All Seasons posted by S.A.Mallal on April 11, 2008 at 21:51:

: This question is with reference to Robert Bolt's famous book (play) about the story of Sir Thomas More titled 'A Man For All Seasons'. Can you please explain to me what does the phrase 'a man for all seasons' really mean when applied to Sir Thomas More? Does it mean a man for all times to come or a man for all occasions or something else?

It means "a man for all occasions, whether happy or serious". It's a quotation by Robert Whittington, a contemporary of More, who in 1520 said: "More is a man of an angel's wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons." (VSD)