"Supported by the king, Richelieu had exercised a veritable dictatorship which the French people had submitted to with impatience, but without which the national work would have been impossible. The nobles were not the only ones who protested. More than once the peasants rose up because of the taxes, the bourgeois because the interest was not paid. The greatness of the result to be attained—France entrenched on the Rhine, the conquest of the "natural frontiers," the end of the German danger, the humbling of the Hapsburgs—were ideas fitted to exalt the minds of those shaping French policy. But how could the masses be expected to renounce their comforts cheerfully for such far-off ends which were beyond their powers of comprehension? Later the policy of Richelieu became a tradition, a national dogma, respected even by the revolutionists. But during his lifetime his contemporaries were far from feeling that no sacrifice was too great if it meant the defeat of the house of Austria. In truth the death of the great Cardinal was felt rather as a relief."

"He was a great statesman, not so much by reason of his calculations and his designs as by his exact appreciation of the means necessary for arriving at a certain end, and of the relation between a state’s internal policy and administration, and its foreign policy. This is the secret of his success in an enterprise in which France was running counter to a power stronger than herself."

"The people can be easily misled, but a wise autocrat can guide them towards their own good"

"Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre."

"Harshness towards individuals who flout the laws and commands of state is for the public good; no greater crime against the public interest is possible than to show leniency to those who violate it."

"Had Luther and Calvin been confined before they had begun to dogmatize, the states would have been spared many troubles."

"Ultima ratio Regum"

"Pour tromper un rival l'artifice est permis; on peut tout employer contres ses ennemis."

"Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state."

"Savoir dissimuler est le savoir des rois."

"Combining in himself the functions of a number of former officials, he had accepted the position in order to centralize the control of the sea and of commerce in his own hands. After he had accomplished this purpose he proceeded to use the office to develop the economic interests of the state. He appointed, for example, a number of men to investigate and make reports concerning various commercial problems. He also made vigorous attempts to establish a powerful naval and commercial marine. Meanwhile he encouraged the founding of a great French colonial empire. By his external policies alone, he sketched the broad outlines of the mercantilist policy which his successor Colbert evolved in more complete detail."

"Rash indeed is he who reckons on the morrow, or haply on days beyond it; for tomorrow is not, until today is past."

"Knowledge must come through action; thou canst have no test which is not fanciful, save by trial."

"They are not wise, then, who stand forth to buffet against Love; for Love rules the gods as he will, and me."

"A prudent mind can see room for misgiving, lest he who prospers should one day suffer reverse."

"There is an ancient saying, famous among men, that thou shouldst not judge fully of a man's life before he dieth, whether it should be called blest or wretched."

"There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old age learn to be wise."

"ὅσῳ κράτιστον κτημάτων εὐβουλία"

"τοῖς πᾶσι κοινόν ἐστι τοὐξαμαρτάνειν: ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἁμάρτῃ, κεῖνος οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἀνὴρ ἄβουλος οὐδ᾽ ἄνολβος, ὅστις ἐς κακὸν πεσὼν ἀκῆται μηδ᾽ ἀκίνητος πέλῃ."

"Love, unconquerable, Waster of rich men, keeper Of warm lights and all-night vigil In the soft face of a girl: Sea-wanderer, forest-visitor! Even the pure immortals cannot escape you, And mortal man, in his one day's dusk, Trembles before your glory."

"The ideal condition Would be, I admit, that men should be right by instinct; But since we are all too likely to go astray, The reasonable thing is to learn from those who can teach."

"ἀλλ᾽ ἄνδρα, κεἴ τις ᾖ σοφός, τὸ μανθάνειν πόλλ᾽."

"μή νυν ἓν ἦθος μοῦνον ἐν σαυτῷ φόρει, ὡς φὴς σύ, κοὐδὲν ἄλλο, τοῦτ᾽ ὀρθῶς ἔχειν."

"Show me the man who keeps his house in hand, He's fit for public authority."

"τὸ κακὸν δοκεῖν ποτ᾽ ἐσθλὸν τῷδ᾽ ἔμμεν' ὅτῳ φρένας θεὸς ἄγει πρὸς ἄταν"

"Happy are they who know not the taste of evil."

"Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver."

"ὅστις γὰρ ἐν πολλοῖσιν ὡς ἐγὼ κακοῖς ζῇ, πῶς ὅδ᾽ οὐχὶ κατθανὼν κέρδος φέρει"

"It is a good thing To escape from death, but it is not great pleasure To bring death to a friend."

"πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ κοὐδὲν ἀν- θρώπου δεινότερον πέλει."

"Henceforth ye may thieve with better knowledge whence lucre should be won, and learn that it is not well to love gain from every source. For thou wilt find that ill-gotten pelf brings more men to ruin than to weal."

"Nothing so evil as money ever grew to be current among men. This lays cities low, this drives men from their homes, this trains and warps honest souls till they set themselves to works of shame; this still teaches folk to practise villainies, and to know every godless deed. But all the men who wrought this thing for hire have made it sure that, soon or late, they shall pay the price."

"Money! There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money."

"Nobody likes the man who brings bad news."

"I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare — I have no use for him, either."

"Our Ship of State, which recent storms have threatened to destroy, has come safely to harbor at last."

"For God hates utterly The bray of bragging tongues."

"Let every man in mankind's frailty Consider his last day; and let none Presume on his good fortune until he find Life, at his death, a memory without pain."

"Time eases all things."

"The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves."

"I am the child of Fortune, The giver of good, and I shall not be shamed. She is my mother; my sisters are the Seasons; My rising and my falling match with theirs. Born thus, I ask to be no other man Than that I am, and will know who I am."

"Fear? What has a man to do with fear? Chance rules our lives, and the future is all unknown. Best live as we may, from day to day."

"The tyrant is a child of Pride Who drinks from his sickening cup Recklessness and vanity, Until from his high crest headlong He plummets to the dust of hope."

"I will never reveal my dreadful secrets, or rather, yours."

"How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be When there's no help in truth!"

"θεοῖς τέθνηκεν οὗτος, οὐ κείνοισιν, οὔ."

"Men of ill judgement oft ignore the good That lies within their hands, till they have lost it."

"ἐχθρῶν ἄδωρα δώρα κοὐκ ὀνήσιμα."

"χάρις χάριν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τίκτουσ᾽ ἀεί ὅτου δ᾽ ἀπορρεῖ μνῆστις εὖ πεπονθότος, οὐκ ἂν γένοιτ᾽ ἔθ᾽ οὗτος εὐγενὴς ἀνήρ."

"Ὦ παῖ, γένοιο πατρὸς εὐτυχέστερος, τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλ᾽ ὅμοιος: καὶ γένοι᾽ ἂν οὐ κακός"