[On Peter III:] He did not have a bad heart; but a weak man usually has not.

Happiness and unhappiness are in the heart and spirit of each one of us: If you feel unhappy, then place yourself above that and act so that your happiness does not get to be dependent on anything.

You philosophers are lucky men. You write on paper and paper is patient. Unfortunate Empress that I am, I write on the susceptible skins of living beings.

In politics a capable ruler must be guided by circumstances, conjectures and conjunctions.

The more a man knows, the more he forgives.

Nothing is more difficult, in my opinion, than to avoid something that fundamentally attracts you.

A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache.

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

One does not always do the best there is. One does the best one can.

it is better to inspire a reform than to enforce it.

Power without a nation's confidence is nothing.

You never know when you're going to die, but maybe something in you does, some cellular consciousness that's aware of the cosmic countdown and starts making plans.

I have loved eight women in my life. I remember every woman's face.

Nowadays we don't think much of a man's love for an animal; we laugh at people who are attached to cats. But if we stop loving animals, aren't we bound to stop loving humans too?

Oh, isn't life a terrible thing, thank God?

All names and forms are the garbs and covers under which the one life is hidden.

The eighties was an era when many companies were asset rich and cash poor.

A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.

Politics is not for sissies.