I shall be an autocrat: that's my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that's his.

I like to praise and reward loudly, to blame quietly.

The most sure, but at the same time the most difficult expedient to mend the morals of the people, is a perfect system of education.

Your wits make others witty.

The trouble is that my heart is loath to be without love even for a single hour. ... If you want to keep me forever, then show as much friendship as love, and more than anything else, love me and tell me the truth.

In politics a capable ruler must be guided by circumstances, conjectures and conjunctions.

What right can give anyone authority to inflict torture upon a citizen when it is still unknown whether he is innocent or guilty?