In my position you have to read when you want to write and to talk when you would like to read. – Catherine the Great
You philosophers are lucky men. You write on paper and paper is patient. Unfortunate Empress that I am, I write on the susceptible skins of living beings. – Catherine the Great
I may be kindly, I am ordinarily gentle, but in my line of business I am obliged to will terribly what I will at all. – Catherine the Great
In politics a capable ruler must be guided by circumstances, conjectures and conjunctions. – Catherine the Great
I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his. – Catherine the Great
For to tempt and to be tempted are things very nearly allied – whenever feeling has anything to do in the matter, no sooner is it excited than we have already gone vastly farther than we are aware of. – Catherine the Great
