Catherine the Great

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

A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache.

The more a man knows, the more he forgives.

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.

Tell a thousand people to draft a letter, let them debate every phrase, and see how long it takes and what you get.

The title of Queen rang sweet to my ears, child though I was. … This idea of a crown began running in my head then like a tune, and has been running a lot in it ever since.

I’m embarrassed to say a good chick flick – I’m an old romantic.

My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.

My Grandmother is over eighty and still doesn’t need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle.

Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do. Love!

When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?

You know I don’t wanna come on ungrateful, but that warren report, you know as well as me, just didn’t make it. You know, like they might as well have asked some banana salesman from des moines, who was up in toronto on the big day, if he saw anyone around looking suspicious…

People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.

I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.

Nothing endures but change.

If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not working on hard enough problems. And that’s a big mistake.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?

Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised.

When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.

From the day I arrived, California seemed like an enchanted land.