20+ Louis XIV Quotes to Reflect on Power, Leadership, and the Age of Absolutism
- September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715
- Born in France
- King of France
- Established absolute monarchy, built the Palace of Versailles, and promoted the development of French culture and art
- “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.”