“Peter returned to Russia determined to remold his country along Western lines. The old Muscovite state, isolated and introverted for centuries, would reach out to Europe and open itself to Europe. In a sense, the flow of effect was circular:… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“I used to say to myself that happiness and misery depend on ourselves. If you feel unhappy, rise above it and act so that… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
Four of my children are daughters, and I've watched them devote themselves to reading books about how little girls learn to become women -… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“For twenty years, Peter had been playing with soldiers; first toys, then boys, then grown men. His games had grown from drills involving a… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“Charles arrived around eight a.m. with a squadron of Drabants and began riding along the bank at the water’s edge to inspect the men… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“Books were her refuge. Having set herself to learn the Russian language, she read every Russian book she could find. But French was the… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“In January in Northern Russia, everything vanishes beneath a deep blanket of whiteness. Rivers, fields, trees, roads, and houses disappear, and the landscape becomes… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“Why Lenin triumphed, why Nicholas failed, why Alexandra placed the fate of her son, her husband and his empire in the hands of a… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“This marriage had resulted from impulse: he had seen her on a high-flying swing at Tsarkoe Selo and her skirt, flared by the breeze,… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“To prove to [her friend, Swedish diplomat Count] Gyllenborg that she was not superficial, Catherine composed an essay about herself, "so that he would… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“She was intelligent, well read, and a shrewd judge of character. During the coup, she had shown determination and courage; once on the throne,… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
“Don't worry. Don't worry. The Devil does none of these things. He neither smokes nor drinks nor engages in revelry, and yet he is… — Robert K. Massie Copy Share Image
![“To prove to [her friend, Swedish diplomat Count] Gyllenborg that she was not superficial, Catherine composed an essay about herself, "so that he would see whether I knew myself or not." The next day, she wrote and handed to Gyllenborg an essay titled 'Portrait of a Fifteen-Year-Old Philosopher.'…” quote by Robert K. Massie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/05e/robert-k-massie-19874_catherine-the-great_to-prove-to-her-friend-swedish-diplomat_646448.jpg)
