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
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand quotes about
Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love.
The art of statesmanship is to foresee the inevitable and to expedite its occurrence.
If we go on explaining we shall cease to understand one another.
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.
There is one person that is wiser than anybody, and that is everybody.
What I have been taught, I have forgotten; what I know, I have guessed.
The reputation of a man is like his shadow, gigantic when it precedes him, and pigmy in its proportions when it follows.
Wherever there's trouble, look for a priest.
If you wish to be popular in society consent to be taught many things you already know.
Merit, however inconsiderable, should be sought for and rewarded. Methods are the master of masters.
Love of glory can only create a great hero; contempt of glory creates a great man.
Beauty, devoid of grace, is a mere hook without the bait.
A court is an assembly of noble and distinguished beggars.
Too much sensibility creates unhappiness and too much insensibility creates crime.