18th-century Diplomat Quotes

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Klemens von Metternich

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis

Joel Barlow

John Hector St. John

Percy Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford

Hugh Elliot

Women sometimes forgive a man who forces the opportunity, but never a man who misses one.

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Of these no more. From Orders, Slaves and Kings,
To thee, O Man, my heart rebounding springs.
Behold th' ascending bliss that waits your call,
Heav'n's own bequest, the heritage of all.
Awake to wisdom, seize the proffer'd prize;
From shade to light, from grief to glory rise.
Freedom at last, with Reason in her train,
Extends o'er earth her everlasting reign…

Men are like plants; the goodness and flavor of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow.

John Hector St. John

Of his downfall:

I feel obliged to call to the supporters of the social uprising: Citizens of a dream-world, nothing is altered. On 14 March 1848, there was merely one man fewer.

Klemens von Metternich

If something pleasant happens to you, don't forget to tell it to your friends, to make them feel bad.

Casimir, Comte de Montrond

Would you know the qualities a man lacks, examine those of which he boasts.

Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur

Today we only smile, we laugh no more,
And e'en our very pleasures seem to bore.

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis

Just like Love is yonder rose,
Heavenly fragrance round it throws,
Yet tears its dewy leaves disclose,
And in the midst of briars it blows
Just like Love.

Percy Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford

No sign of purpose can be detected in any part of the vast universe disclosed by our most powerful telescopes.