King Louis XIV: There is more of me to love than a crown.
Lt. Andre: All my life, all I ever wanted to be was him.
King Louis XIV: It is good that you watch me, D'Artagnan, but I fear you watch me too closely.
Phillippe: I wear the mask. It does not wear me.
D'Artagnan: You are constantly surrounded by beautiful women. Do you love any of them?
Louis: Quite frequently, actually.
Aramis: You grow fond of him. That is good.
Aramis: You are surrounded by beauty, by intrigue, by danger, what more can a man want?
Louis: Cowards! Twenty men run from four?
Lt. Andre: The corridor nullifies our numbers, and nobody has the stomach to fight the captain.
Aramis: Athos, if we fail in this - and we probably will - it will be an honor to die beside you.
Aramis: Porthos... don't you understand? I'm trying to pray.
Porthos: You're always praying.
D'Artagnan: No. If anyone sees... it is death.
Queen Anne: If I don't kiss you, I'll die anyway.
Athos: The next time we meet, one of us will die.
D'Artagnan: Anne, I know that to love you is a treason against France, but not to love you is a treason against my heart.
Queen Anne: Then we will both die traitors, D'Artagnan.
Aramis: When I discover the identity of this Jesuit rebel, I will kill both him and the man who told me.
Queen Anne: Aramis.
Aramis: I have come to ask whether you believe that just as one lie can destroy a life, so one truth can make it whole again.
Queen Anne: I have prayed every day for such a miracle.
Athos: You have the heart of a king.
Answer: It is partially true. Author Alexander Dumas based his character on records that were recovered about an unknown prisoner whose identity was kept secret by a black cloth that constantly covered his head. The facts gradually changed as a myth grew up around this account, and the cloth mask was eventually said to be iron. This person, who is believed to have been of high rank, was incarcerated in several prisons, including the Bastille. Dumas adapted the legend for his novel and made the unknown man the twin brother of King Louis XIV. However, the man's true identity has never been discovered. The movie has also distorted historical facts about the Bastille. It was originally built as a fortress during The Hundred Years War, and only later was it used as a prison. (It only held about 50 people.) When it was stormed by French peasants in 1789, there were only seven inmates, and it is believed the rioters were actually looking for ammunition rather than attempting to free prisoners.
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