Catherine the Great Quotes Proverbs, and Aphorisms

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Catherine the Great Quotes Proverbs, and Aphorisms(Fictional image. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.)
  • May 2, 1729 – November 17, 1796
  • Russian
  • Empress of Russia, Enlightened Absolutist, Longest-Ruling Female Leader of Russia

Catherine the Great was Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, becoming the country’s longest-ruling female leader and one of its most influential monarchs. A German-born princess, she came to power after a coup against her husband, Peter III. Catherine expanded the Russian Empire, modernized its administration, and promoted Enlightenment ideals, engaging with philosophers like Voltaire and Diderot. She reformed education, supported the arts, and sought to strengthen Russia’s status as a European power. However, her reign also saw increased serfdom and suppression of uprisings, leading to criticism of her social policies. Catherine remains a complex figure—admired for her intellect, ambition, and statecraft, yet scrutinized for her autocratic methods.

  1. “I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.”
  2. “The more a man knows, the more he forgives.”
  3. “I may be kindly, I am ordinarily gentle, but in my line of business I am obliged to will terribly what I will at all.”
  4. “All this is only for the mice and myself to admire!”
  5. “Power without a nation’s confidence is nothing.”
  6. “I am one of the people who love the why of things.”
  7. “I beg you take courage; the brave soul can mend even disaster.”
  8. “A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache.”
  9. “In my position you have to read when you want to write and to talk when you would like to read.”
  10. “You philosophers are lucky men. You write on paper and paper is patient. Unfortunate Empress that I am, I write on the susceptible skins of living beings.”
  11. “I like to praise and reward loudly, to blame quietly.”
  12. “For to tempt and to be tempted are things very nearly allied — whenever feeling has anything to do in the matter, no sooner is it excited than we have already gone vastly farther than we are aware of.”
  13. “Men make love more intensely at 20, but make love better, however, at 30.”
  14. “Your wit makes others witty.”
  15. “In politics a capable ruler must be guided by circumstances, conjectures and conjunctions.”
  16. “I praise loudly. I blame softly.”