Cardinal Richelieu
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal-Duke of Richelieu and of Fronsac, commonly referred to as Cardinal Richelieuʁiʃljø]), was a French clergyman, nobleman, and statesman. He was consecrated as a bishop in 1607 and was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a cardinal in 1622, and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642; he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, whose career...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionReligious Leader
Date of Birth9 September 1585
CityParis, France
CountryFrance
Who will be my equal?
Nothing so upholds the laws as the punishment of persons whose rank is as great as their crime.
Harshness towards individuals who flout the laws and commands of the state is for the public good; no greater crime against the public interest is possible than to show leniency to those who violate it.
I have the consolation of leaving your kingdom in the highest degree of glory and of reputation.
A single word has sometimes lost or won an empire...
Bakers of bread rolls and pastry cooks will not buy grain before eleven o'clock in winter and noon in summer; bakers of large loaves will not buy grain before two o'clock. This will enable the people of the town to obtain their supply first. Bakers shall put a distinctive trademark on their loaves, and keep weights and scales in their shops, under penalty of having their licenses removed.
Wise judges are we of each other!
Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.
A virtuous and well-disposed person, like a good metal, the more he is fired, the more he is fined; the more he is opposed, the more he is approved: wrongs may well try him, and touch him, but cannot imprint in him any false stamp.
We may employ artifice to deceive a rival, anything against our enemies.
I have never had any [enemies] other than those of the state.
To mislead a rival, deception is permissable; one may use all means against his enemies.
War is one of the scourges with which it has pleased God to afflict men.
First, all means to conciliate; failing that, all means to crush.