Peter the Great — "Ignorance and obstinacy are the greatest enemies of the state."
Ignorance and obstinacy are the greatest enemies of the state.
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More from Peter the Great
"To have a strong army and navy, one must have money. To have money, one must have trade. To have trade, one must have a sea port."
"I have seen the future, and it is in the West."
"Alas! I have civilized my own subjects; I have conquered other nations; yet I have not been able to civilize or to conquer myself."
"I desire that the people should learn and become more enlightened, but I cannot force them to it."
"It is better to have one good example than a hundred good rules."
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.