There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.
The ministers of kings should learn to moderate their ambition. The higher they elevate themselves above their proper sphere, the greater the danger that they will fall.
It is impossible to please all the world.
The King of Spain displayed his esteem for me in a manner that I confess flattered me pleasantly when, after the death of Don Luis de Haro, he stated publicly in front of all the foreign ambassadors that he wanted to follow my example in not having a prime minister any longer.
Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy and one ungrateful.
My child, you are going to be a great king; do not imitate me in the taste I have had for building, or in that I have had for war; try, on the contrary, to be at peace with your neighbors.
We can do all we wish while we live; afterward, we are less than the meanest.
You have only to see what became of my father's will immediately after his death, and the wills of so many other kings. I know it well; but nevertheless, they have wished it; they gave me no rest nor repose, no calm until it was done.
I have made my will; I have been tormented to do it. I have bought repose; I know the powerlessness and inutility of it.
I could sooner reconcile all Europe than two women.
Render to God what you owe him; recognize the obligations you are under to him.
