Cardinal Richelieu

"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."

"Savoir dissimuler est le savoir des rois."

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

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

"Ultima ratio Regum"

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

"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."

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

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

"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."

"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."

"His most recurring insistence is upon the supremacy of reason and prudence over the hazards of emotion and favoritism in the governance of affairs of state. His strongest injunction is a constant surveillance of every potential serious source of danger to the state and equally steadfast purpose in promoting every measure for strengthening the realm. The king must appoint men of high competence, integrity, and fidelity to government service; be on guard against flatterers; be patient with mediocrities and know how best to employ them; maintain a strong and adequate army; and never act without the advice of the royal council. Many other counsels are given which reveal the flexibility of Richelieu's mind, his circumspect caution, and a determination that brooked no obstacle in carrying through a plan. There are too many exhortations to abide by the Christian conscience, which seem to consort uncomfortably with Richelieu's overriding purpose—to make France an absolute monarchy and the dominant state of Europe."

"An nescis, mi fili, quantilla prudentia mundus regatur? (alternatively: regatur orbis)"