Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgordʁɑ̃ peʁiɡɔʁ]; 1754–1838), prince de Bénévent, then prince de Talleyrand, was a French bishop, politician and diplomat. After theology studies, he became in 1780 Agent-General of the Clergy and represented the Catholic Church to the French Crown. He worked at the highest levels of successive French governments, most commonly as foreign minister or in some other diplomatic capacity. His career spanned the regimes of Louis XVI, the years of the French Revolution, Napoleon, Louis XVIII, and Louis-Philippe...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionDiplomat
Date of Birth2 February 1754
CountryFrance
The bold defiance of a woman is the certain sign of her shame, - when she has once ceased to blush, it is because she has too much to blush for.
To succeed in the world, it is much more necessary to possess the penetration to discern who is a fool, than to discover who is a clever man.
Love is a reality which is born in the fairy region of romance.
She is such a good friend that she would throw all her acquaintances into the water for the pleasure of fishing them out again.
What I have been taught, I have forgotten; what I know, I have guessed.
In a novel, the author gives the leading character intelligence and distinction. Fate goes to less trouble: mediocrities play a part in great events simply from happening to be there.
An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public.
Regimes may fall and fail, but I do not.
Mistrust first impulses; they are nearly always good.
Never speak ill of yourself, your friends will always say enough on that subject.
Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts. [Fr., La parole a ete donnce a l'homme pour deguiser sa pensee.]
Since the masses are always eager to believe something, for their benefit nothing is so easy to arrange as facts.
The art of putting the right men in the right places is first in the science of government; but that of finding places for the discontented is the most difficult.
Society is divided into two classes: the shearers and the shorn. We should always be with the former against the latter.