Marie Antoinette

"It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness. The king seems to understand this truth; as for myself, I know that in my whole life (even if I live for a hundred years) I shall never forget the day of the coronation."

"[Her] rumored tribadism had historically specific political implications. Consider her final (fictive) testimony in The Confession of Marie-Antoinette: 'People!' she protests, 'because I ceded to the sweet impressions of nature, and in imitating the charming weakness of all the women of the court of France, I surrendered to the sweet impulsion of love...you hold me, as it were, captive within your walls?'""

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then the dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she just began to move in,—glittering like the morning star, full of life and splendor, and joy. Oh! what a revolution! and what a heart must I have, to contemplate without emotion that elevation and that fall! Little did I dream when she added titles of veneration to those of enthusiastic, distant, respectful love, that she should ever be obliged to carry the sharp antidote against disgrace concealed in that bosom; little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone.—That of sophisters, economists; and calculators has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever."

"Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose."

"In a month’s time, I shall be able to give your Majesty news of the Comtesse de Provence, for the marriage is fixed for May 14th; they had prepared many fetes for this marriage, but now they are economising in them for want of money."

"We made our entrance into Paris. As for honors, we received all that we could possibly imagine; but they, though very well in their way, were not what touched me most. What was really affecting was the tenderness and earnestness of the poor people, who, in spite of the taxes with which they are overwhelmed, were transported with joy at seeing us."

"I have come, Sire, to complain of one of your subjects who has been so audacious as to kick me in the belly."

"No harm will come to me. The Assembly is prepared to treat us leniently."

"The King of Prussia is innately a bad neighbor, but the English will also always be bad neighbors to France, and the sea has never prevented them from doing her great mischief."

"What do you make of these threatening verses?... Pray heaven you speak truly, Madame d’Adhémar, however, these are strange experiences. Who is this personage who has taken an interest in me for so many years without making himself known, without seeking any reward, and who yet has always told me the truth? He now warns me of the overthrow of everything that exists and, if he gives a gleam of hope, it is so distant that I may not reach it... You fancy that I possess credit or power in our Salon. You are mistaken; I had the misfortune to believe that a Queen was permitted to have friends. The consequence is that all try to rule me, or to use me for their own personal advantage. I am the centre of a crowd of intrigues, which I have difficulty in avoiding."

"Madame d'Adhémar, here is another missive from my unknown. Have you not heard people talking again of the Comte de St.--Germain?... This time, the oracle has used the language which becomes him, the epistle is in verse; it may be bad, but it is not very cheering. You shall read it at your leisure...The unknown says the same as you do; but who is wrong or right?'"

"Courage! I have shown it for years; think you I shall lose it at the moment when my sufferings are to end?"

"We had a beautiful dream and that was all. The interest of my son is the only guide I have, and whatever happiness I could achieve by being free of this place I cannot consent to separate my self from him. I could not have any pleasure in the world if I abandoned my children.I do not even have any regrets."

"Der liebe Gott hat Sie mit einer Figur und so vielen Vorzügen ausgestattet und dem Ihre Güte hinzugefügt, da[ss] Ihnen alle Herzen zufliegen, wenn sie etwas unternehmen oder tun. […] ich fürchte nur ihre Trägheit und Verschwendungssucht; das sind die einzigen Feinde, die Sie zu fürchten haben."

"Verspielt, unaufmerksam, ausgelassen, von einer quecksilberigen Munterkeit, hat die kleine Marie Antoinette trotz leichtester Auffassung nie die geringste Neigung gezeigt, sich mit irgendeinem ernsten Gedanken zu beschäftigen."

"Mit einem entzückenden Antlitz vereint sie alle erdenkbare Anmut der Haltung […]. Ihr Charakter und ihr Gemüt sind ausgezeichnet."

"Bleiben Sie eine gute Deutsche!"

"Wenn sie kein Brot haben, sollen sie doch Kuchen essen."

"Ich hatte Freunde. Der Gedanke, daß ich von ihnen für immer getrennt bin, und das Bewußtsein ihres Schmerzes gehören zu den größten Leiden, die ich sterbend mit mir nehme."

"Mich verletzt nichts mehr."

"Ja, ich möchte meine Ruhe haben."

"Habe ich zu viel Würde in meine Antwort gelegt? Ich frage, weil ich eine Frau sprechen hörte: «Seht nur, wie stolz sie noch ist!»"

"Erst im tiefen Leid erkennt man, wer man wirklich ist."

"Mut habe ich solange gezeigt, glaubt Ihr, ich werde ihn verlieren, wenn mein Leiden ein Ende findet?"

"Es sind heute viele Leute in Versailles"

"Sie können sicher sein, man wird auch nicht ein Körnchen Gift gegen mich anwenden. Die Zeiten der Brinvilliers sind nicht mehr; heutzutage hat man die Verleumdung, die weit wirksamer ist, um jemanden zu töten, und durch sie wird man auch mich ins Grab bringen."

"Nehmen Sie ihn, er gehört dem Staat. Dafür werde ich meine Tochter zurücknehmen."

"Die Leute glauben, es sei so einfach, die Königin zu spielen, aber sie irren. Nichts als Vorschriften und Zeremoniell! Natürlich zu sein, ist anscheinend ein Verbrechen."

"Sire, ich muss mich über einen Ihrer Untertanen beschweren, der so kühn gewesen ist, mir mit den Füßen in den Bauch zu treten."

"Mein Herr, ich bitte Sie um Verzeihung, ich tat es nicht mit Absicht."