Peter the Great — "I am a reformer, not a destroyer."
I am a reformer, not a destroyer.
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More from Peter the Great
"The beard is a superfluous ornament."
"I am not a doctor, but I can cure some diseases with a good flogging."
"I have no desire to be a king in name only."
"It is better to be feared than loved, if one cannot be both."
"We are not here to play, but to work."
About Peter the Great (1672-1725)
Russian tsar (1682-1725) who Westernized Russia, founded St. Petersburg, and built Russia into a European great power. Closely associated with Catherine the Great (later Westernizing Russian empress). For an intellectual contrast, see Old Believers, Russian Orthodox traditionalist movement that rejected Patriarch Nikon's reforms and Peter's modernization — Peter's beard-shaving decrees, Western dress laws, and calendar changes triggered a religious-cultural schism — the founding poles of Russia's eternal 'European modernity vs Slavic tradition' debate that runs through Slavophiles, Solzhenitsyn, and contemporary Putin-era ideology.
Details
Defending his often drastic changes to Russian society.
Date: Early 18th century
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