60 Quotes by Catherine the Great

You should know our mania for building is stronger than ever. It is a diabolical thing. It consumes money and the more you build, the more you want to build. It's a sickness like being addicted to alcohol.

Tell a thousand people to draft a letter, let them debate every phrase, and see how long it takes and what you get.

I praise loudly and I blame softly.

I sincerely want peace, not because I lack resources for war, but because I hate bloodshed.

I cannot live one day without love.

The trouble is that my heart is loath to be without love even for a single hour. ... If you want to keep me forever, then show as much friendship as love, and more than anything else, love me and tell me the truth.

The most sure, but at the same time the most difficult expedient to mend the morals of the people, is a perfect system of education.

Praise is the only gift for which people are really grateful. Marguerite, Countess of Blessington I praise loudly; I blame softly.

Power without a nation's confidence is nothing.