It would not be difficult to be a better ruler than I was: for I admit that I ruled badly; and even if I was fortunate enough to satisfy my subjects, I was not fortunate enough to satisfy myself.

It is quite as ignominious to allow oneself to be deceived as to deceive.

You should be more afraid of a stupid man than of an evil one.

There is a star above us which unites souls of the first order, though worlds and ages separate them.

It would not be difficult to be a better ruler than I was: for I admit that I ruled badly; and even if I was fortunate enough to satisfy my subjects, I was not fortunate enough to satisfy myself.

Other things titillate me more keenly than the pale pleasures of marriage.

Nuns and married women are equally unhappy, if in different ways.