Peter the Great — "The beard is an unnecessary appendage."
The beard is an unnecessary appendage.
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More from Peter the Great
"I am not making war against the Swedish nation, but against its king."
"I have seen the future, and it is in the West."
"It is not the number of soldiers, but the skill of the generals that determines victory."
"It is not the number of soldiers, but the quality of their spirit that brings victory."
"It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well."
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.