My kingdom for a horse --still in use today

"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" 
When an attendant, Catesby, offers to help him withdraw and find a horse, Richard refuses, choosing instead to "stand the hazard of the die" and continue fighting, desperately trying to kill Henry Tudor and end the battle. He is eventually killed, the last English king to die in battle. 
Modern Meaning and Usage
In modern English, the expression is used as an idiom (often humorously) to emphasize how important an otherwise ordinary or insignificant item becomes in a specific moment of urgent need, eclipsing all other considerations. 

 

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