“I have seen only yoU, I have admired only yoU, I desire only You”

“You wish to sail a ship up stream by lighting a fire under its decks, I have no time for such nonsense.”

“You would make a ship sail against the winds and currents by lighting a bonfire under her decks? I have no time for such nonsense.”

“What is a throne? — a bit of wood gilded and covered in velvet. I am the state— I alone am here the representative of the people. Even if I had done wrong you should not have reproached me in public—people wash their dirty linen at home. France has more need of me than I of France.”

“The only victory over love is flight.”

“A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.”

“You don't govern men who don't have religion, you shoot them.”