I am one of the people who love the why of things.

[On Peter III:] He did not have a bad heart; but a weak man usually has not.

The laws ought to be so framed as to secure the safety of every citizen as much as possible. ... Political liberty does not consist in the notion that a man may do whatever he pleases; liberty is the right to do whatsoever the laws allow. ... The equality of the citizens consists in that they should all be subject to the same laws.

I like to praise and reward in a loud voice and to scold in a whisper.

it is better to inspire a reform than to enforce it.

Power without a nation's confidence is nothing.

I do not love strife, because I have always found that in the end each remains of the same opinion.