Cardinal Richelieu famous quotes

04-17-2025

If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Death #Men #Hands
If God forbade drinking, would He have made wine so good?
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Drinking #Wine #Made
Never write a letter and never destroy one.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Writing #Letters
Deception is the knowledge of kings.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Kings #Deception
Friendship is the medicine for all misfortune; but ingratitude dries up the fountain of all goodness.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Friendship #Medicine #Goodness
Bakers of bread rolls and pastry cooks will not buy grain before eleven o'clock in winter and noon in summer; bakers of large loaves will not buy grain before two o'clock. This will enable the people of the town to obtain their supply first. Bakers shall put a distinctive trademark on their loaves, and keep weights and scales in their shops, under penalty of having their licenses removed.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Summer #Winter #Two
To know how to dissemble is the knowledge of kings. [Fr., Savoir dissimuler est le savoir des rois.]
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Kings #Roi #Royalty
Had Luther and Calvin been confined before they had begun to dogmatize, the states would have been spared many troubles.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Trouble #Luther #States
Nothing is as dangerous for the state as those who would govern kingdoms with maxims found in books.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Book #Reading #Kingdoms
Bakers of bread rolls and pastry cooks will not buy grain before eleven o'clock in winter and noon in summer.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Summer #Winter #Bakers
When people are too comfortable, it is not possible to restrain them within the bounds of their duty? They may be compared to mules who, being accustomed to burdens, are spoilt by rest rather than labour.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#People #May #Mules
Give me six lines written by the most honorable person alive, and I shall find enough in them to condemn them to the gallows.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Giving #Six #Alive
Not the least of the qualities that go into the making of a great ruler is the ability of letting others serve him.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Quality #Ability #Rulers
To know how to disguise is the knowledge of kings.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Kings #Feelings #Deception
I have the consolation of leaving your kingdom in the highest degree of glory and of reputation.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Leaving #Degrees #Kingdoms
I was excellent. Everybody loved me. I love myself, and I like bums.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#I Love Myself #Brilliant #Excellent
War is one of the scourges with which it has pleased God to afflict men.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Peace #War #Men
Carry on any enterprise as if all future success depended on it.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Future Success #Enterprise
Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Essentials #Firsts #Affair
Harshness towards individuals who flout the laws and commands of the state is for the public good; no greater crime against the public interest is possible than to show leniency to those who violate it.
-- Cardinal Richelieu

#Law #Crime #Individual

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