I'd rather break stones on the king's highway than hem a handkerchief.

The stones tear like flesh, rather than breaking. Although what happens is violent, it is a violence that is in stone. A tear is more unnerving than a break.

I'd rather be the king of kids, than the prince of fools.

Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instruction.

I'd rather have dinner with Don King than with Mark Furhman. But then, I'm American. I have no perspective.

And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.