Catherine the Great (Catherine II)

“I praise loudly. I blame softly.”

“Power without a nation's confidence is nothing.”

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

“You philosophers are lucky men. You write on paper and paper is patient.”

“I am one of the people who love the why of things.”

“The more a man knows, the more he forgives.”

“Happiness and unhappiness are in the heart and spirit of each one of us.”

“It is better to be subject to the law, than to a capricious man.”

“A feeble man can hardly be a good king.”

“That which is not useful is vicious.”

“In my heart, I am a republican.”

“I shall be an autocrat, that's my trade; and the good Lord will forgive me, that's his.”