Louis XIV Quotes Proverbs, and Aphorisms
- September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715
- Born in France
- King of France
Louis XIV, known as the “Sun King,” ruled France from 1643 to 1715 and is remembered as the quintessential absolute monarch. He centralized power, weakened the nobility, and famously declared, “L’État, c’est moi” (“I am the state”), embodying the theory of divine-right monarchy. Under his reign, France became the leading European power, both militarily and culturally, with Versailles as a symbol of royal grandeur and control. However, his long wars and lavish spending strained the economy and sowed unrest. While admired for strengthening the French state and patronizing the arts, Louis XIV is also criticized for despotism and setting the stage for future revolution.
- “The King of Spain displayed his esteem for me in a manner that I confess flattered me pleasantly when, after the death of Don Luis de Haro, he stated publicly in front of all the foreign ambassadors that he wanted to follow my example in not having a prime minister any longer.”
- “I have made my will; I have been tormented to do it. I have bought repose; I know the powerlessness and inutility of it.”
- “It is impossible to please all the world.”
- “Render to God what you owe him; recognize the obligations you are under to him.”
- “First feelings are always the most natural.”
- “My child, you are going to be a great king; do not imitate me in the taste I have had for building, or in that I have had for war; try, on the contrary, to be at peace with your neighbors.”
- “Laws are the sovereigns of sovereigns.”
- “It is legal because I wish it.”
- “I am the state.”
- “You have only to see what became of my father’s will immediately after his death, and the wills of so many other kings. I know it well; but nevertheless, they have wished it; they gave me no rest nor repose, no calm until it was done.”
- “I could sooner reconcile all Europe than two women.”
- “The ministers of kings should learn to moderate their ambition. The higher they elevate themselves above their proper sphere, the greater the danger that they will fall.”
- “The Pyrenees are no more.”
- “I am dying, but the state remains.”
- “Has God forgotten all I have done for Him.”
- “There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.”
- “That’s what troubles me: I should like to suffer more for the expiation of my sins.”
- “Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy and one ungrateful.”
- “My court was divided between peace and war according to their various interests, but I considered only their reasons.”
- “Ah, if I were not king, I should lose my temper.”
- “As for restitutions, to nobody in particular do I owe any, but as for those I owe to the realm, I hope in the mercy of God.”
- “Always follow good counsels.”
- “We can do all we wish while we live; afterward, we are less than the meanest.”