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Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu

Cardinal Richelieu

34 quotes in 179 categories

Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu, commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religious affairs.

Quick Facts About Cardinal Richelieu

Notable works: Political Testament [Christmas Summary Classics]

About Cardinal Richelieu

Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu, commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religious affairs. He became known as the Red Eminence, a term derived from the style of Eminence applied to cardinals and their customary red robes.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Quotes by Cardinal Richelieu

I have the consolation of leaving your kingdom in the highest degree of glory and of reputation.

Cardinal Richelieu

Consolation

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To know how to disguise is the knowledge of kings.

Cardinal Richelieu

Deception

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I was excellent. Everybody loved me. I love myself, and I like bums.

Cardinal Richelieu

Body love

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Give me six lines written by the most honorable of men, and I will find an excuse in them to hang him.

Cardinal Richelieu

Writing

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If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them…

Cardinal Richelieu

Give me

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Bakers of bread rolls and pastry cooks will not buy grain before eleven o'clock in winter and noon in summer; bakers of…

Cardinal Richelieu

Bakers

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When people are too comfortable, it is not possible to restrain them within the bounds of their duty? They may be compared…

Cardinal Richelieu

Accustomed

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Reason must be the universal rule and guide; all things must be done according to reason without allowing oneself to be swayed…

Cardinal Richelieu

All things

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I do not sleep to let others sleep in the shade of my waking.

Cardinal Richelieu

Shade

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Happy is the man who dreams dreams, and is prepared topay the price to make them come true.

Cardinal Richelieu

Dreams

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Wise judges are we of each other!

Cardinal Richelieu

Judging

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Nothing so upholds the laws as the punishment of persons whose rank is as great as their crime.

Cardinal Richelieu

Crime

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If God forbade drinking, would He have made wine so good?

Cardinal Richelieu

Drinking

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A single word has sometimes lost or won an empire.

Cardinal Richelieu

Empires

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War is one of the scourges with which it has pleased God to afflict men.

Cardinal Richelieu

Men

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To mislead a rival, deception is permissable; one may use all means against his enemies.

Cardinal Richelieu

Deception

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First, all means to conciliate; failing that, all means to crush.

Cardinal Richelieu

Crush

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Did you think I was immortal?

Cardinal Richelieu

Dying last words

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I have never had any [enemies] other than those of the state.

Cardinal Richelieu

Enemy

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Harshness towards individuals who flout the laws and commands of the state is for the public good; no greater crime against the…

Cardinal Richelieu

Command

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One must believe neither the people of the palace, who ordinarily measure the power of the king by the shape of his…

Cardinal Richelieu

Believe

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Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.

Cardinal Richelieu

Secrecy

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Give me six lines written by the most honorable person alive, and I shall find enough in them to condemn them to…

Cardinal Richelieu

Alive

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Friendship is the medicine for all misfortune; but ingratitude dries up the fountain of all goodness.

Cardinal Richelieu

Fountain

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Nothing is as dangerous for the state as those who would govern kingdoms with maxims found in books.

Cardinal Richelieu

Book

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