The ministers of kings should learn to moderate their ambition. The higher they elevate themselves above their proper sphere, the greater the danger that they will fall.
Render to God what you owe him; recognize the obligations you are under to him.
I could sooner reconcile all Europe than two women.
I have made my will; I have been tormented to do it. I have bought repose; I know the powerlessness and inutility of it.
You have only to see what became of my father's will immediately after his death, and the wills of so many other kings. I know it well; but nevertheless, they have wished it; they gave me no rest nor repose, no calm until it was done.
We can do all we wish while we live; afterward, we are less than the meanest.
