Catherine the Great

I have always tried to be a good strategist.

I have always tried to be a good tactician.

I have always tried to be a good administrator.

I have always tried to be a good manager.

I have always tried to be a good organizer.

I have always tried to be a good planner.

I have always tried to be a good visionary.

I have always tried to be a good reformer.

I have always tried to be a good innovator.

I have always tried to be a good modernizer.

I shall be an autocrat: that's my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that's his.

Power without trust cannot be exercised.

The more a man knows, the less he speaks.

A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward.

I am convinced that the heart is the best teacher of virtue.

To be beautiful, one must be free from fear.

The state is everything, the individual nothing.

Wit is educated insolence.

I prefer the company of animals to the company of men.

Do not imagine that I am jealous of your glory; I am delighted with it.