CARDINAL RICHELIEU

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.

Carry on any enterprise as if all future success depended on it.

To know how to dissimulate is the knowledge of kings.

Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.

War is one of the scourges with which it has pleased God to afflict men.

… the most barbarous stroke in human annals.

We announce, declare, ordain, and will that all the strongholds, either towns or castles, which are in the interior of our realm or provinces of the same, not situated in places of importance either for frontier defense or other considerations of weight, shall be razed and demolished; even ancient walls shall be destroyed so far as it shall be deemed necessary for the well-being and repose of our subjects and the security of this state, so that our said subjects henceforth need not fear that the said places will cause them any inconvenience, and so that we shall be freed from the expense of supporting garrisons in them

The French language, which has suffered much hitherto from neglect on the part of those who might have rendered it the most perfect of modern tongues, is now more capable than ever of taking its high place, owing to the great number of persons who possess a special knowledge of the advantages which it enjoys and who can augment these advantages … [I have] arranged meetings of scholars whose decisions in these matters have met with my hearty approval, and that in order to put these decisions into execution and render the French language not only elegant but capable of treating all the arts and sciences, it would only be necessary to perpetuate these gatherings. This could be done with great advantage should it please us to sanction them, to permit rules and regulations to be drawn up for the order of procedure to be observed, and to reward those who compose the association by some honorable marks of our favor.

We may employ artifice to deceive a rival, anything against our enemies.

Had Luther and Calvin been confined before they had begun to dogmatize, the states would have been spared many troubles.

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

Deception is the knowledge of kings.

The Artillery Barrage: The last reasoning of Kings.

Reason must be the universal rule and guide; all things must be done according to reason without allowing oneself to be swayed by emotion.

Nothing is as dangerous for the state as those who would govern kingdoms with maxims found in books.

I have never had any [enemies] other than those of the state.

Nothing so upholds the laws as the punishment of persons whose rank is as great as their crime.

To mislead a rival, deception is permissable; one may use all means against his enemies.

I have the consolation of leaving your kingdom in the highest degree of glory and of reputation.

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.

One must believe neither the people of the palace, who ordinarily measure the power of the king by the shape of his crown, which, being round, has no end, nor those who, in the excesses of an indiscreet zeal, proclaim themselves openly as partisans of Rome.