Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Be more than you seem to be.
Rogues, would you live forever?
One should never despair too soon.
Every man has a wild beast within him.
I love opposition that has convictions.
Every man must get to Heaven his own way.
An educated people can be easily governed.
He who defends everything defends nothing.
God is always with the strongest battalions.
Pleasure is the most real good in this life.
A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.
Books make up no small part of human happiness.
The more I see of men, the better I like my dog.
Our work is to present things that are as they are.
In trying to defend everything he defended nothing.
What is the good of experience if you do not reflect?
The people say what they like and then I do what I like
Great things are achieved only when we take great risks.
Diplomacy without arms is like a concert without a score
It is pardonable to be defeated, but never to be surprised.
It is impossible to imitate Voltaire without being Voltaire.
A king is the first servant and first magistrate of the state.
Artillery adds dignity, to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl.
Diplomacy without military might is like music without instruments.
Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer.
If I wished to punish a province, I would have it governed by philosophers.
Religion is the idol of the mob; it adores everything it does not understand.
If soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army.
I begin by taking. I shall find scholars later to demonstrate my perfect right.
If my soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army.
It is the fashion these days to make war, and presumably it will last a while yet.
A German singer! I should as soon expect to get pleasure from the neighing of my horse.
Everybody is using coffee. If possible, this must be prevented. My people must drink beer.
Don't forget your great guns, which are the most respectable arguments of the rights of kings.
A man with his heart in his profession imagines and finds resources where the worthless and lazy despair.
Man is made for error; it enters his mind naturally, and he discovers a few truths only with the greatest effort.
It seems to me that man is made to act rather than to know: the principles of things escape our most persevering researches.
My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfies us both. They are to do what they please, and I am to do what I please.
My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfied us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.
The greatest and noblest pleasure which we have in this world is to discover new truths, and the next is to shake off old prejudices.
A man, who can, in cold blood, hunt and torture a poor, innocent animal, cannot feel much compassion for the distress of his own species.
Always presume that the enemy has dangerous designs and always be forehanded with the remedy. But do not let these calculations make your timid.
Though I may not be a king in my future life, so much the better: I shall nevertheless live an active life and, on top of it, earn less ingratitude.
No government can exist without taxation. The money must necessarily be levied on the people; and the grand art consists of levying so as not to oppress.
Great advantage is drawn from knowledge of your adversary, and when you know the measure of his intelligence and character, you can use it to play on his weakness.
I think it better to keep a profound silence with regard to the Christian fables, which are canonized by their antiquity and the credulity of absurd and insipid people.
Do not neglect the principles of foresight and know that often, puffed up with success, armies have lost the fruit of their heroism through a feeling of false security.
Neither antiquity nor any other nation has imagined a more atrocious and blasphemous absurdity than that of eating God. This is how Christians treat the autocrat of the universe.
All religions must be tolerated ... every man must go to heaven in his own way. [Die Religionen müssen alle toleriert werden ... denn hier muss ein jeder nach seiner Fasson selig werden.]
Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer, and the King does not believe that coffee-drinking soldiers can be relied upon to endure hardships in case of another war.