Frederick the Great > Quotes

“A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.”
― Frederick the Great

“Nowadays it is seen as a shame, to marry a girl who is a mother, who has never been married. I want to get rid of that prejudice.”
― Frederick the Great, Erster Diener Seines Staates: Friedrich Der Grosse In Ausgewählten Zitaten

“Books make up no small part of human happiness.”
― Frederick the Great

“Diplomacy without arms is like a concert without a score”
― Frederick the Great

“The greatest and noblest pleasure which men can have in this world is to discover new truths; and the next is to shake off old prejudices.”
― Frederick the Great

“He who defends everything, defends nothing.”
― Frederick the Great

“It has been said by a certain general, that the first object in the establishment of an army ought to be making provision for the belly, that being the basis and foundation of all operations”
― Frederick the Great

“As to your Newton, I confess I do not understand his void and his gravity; I admit he has demonstrated the movement of the heavenly bodies with more exactitude than his forerunners; but you will admit it is an absurdity to maintain the existence of Nothing.

[Letter to Voltaire, 25 Nov. 1777]”
― Frederick the Great

“Quand je serai là, je serai sans souci”
― Frederick the Great

“Die Religionen Müsen alle Tolleriret werden und Mus der fiscal nuhr das auge darauf haben, das keine der andern abruch Tuhe, den hier mus ein jeder nach Seiner Fasson Selich werden!"

[Rand-Verfügung des Königs zum Immediat-Bericht des Geistlichen Departements: Katholische Schulen und Proselytenmacherei; Berlin, 22. Mai 1740]”
― Frederick the Great

“„Eine Regierung muss sparsam sein, weil das Geld, das sie erhält, aus dem Blut und Schweiß ihres Volkes stammt. Es ist gerecht, dass jeder einzelne dazu beiträgt, die Ausgaben des Staates tragen zu helfen. Aber es ist nicht gerecht, dass er die Hälfte seines jährlichen Einkommens mit dem Staate teilen muss.”
― Frederick the Great, Zeitlose Weisheiten des Preussenkönig

“The people say what they like and then I do what I like”
― Frederick the Great

“The Miracle of the House of Brandenburg had come to pass.”
― Frederick the Great