""It is an error for you to feign modesty when you are talking to me," the King said, firmly but not angrily. I saw my error. We use humility when we fear that someone will consider us a rival or a threat; and while this may be true of common or even noble men, it can never be true of le Roi and so to use humility in His Majesty's presence is to imply that the King shares the petty jealousies and insecurities of others. "Forgive me for being foolish, Sire." "Never; but I forgive you for being inexperienced.”"
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Eliza, recounting her conversation with Louie XIV in a letter to Jean Antoine de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux, 25 September 1685, “A Visit from le Roi”
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The Baroque Cycle
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