Frederick The Great Quotes & Sayings

Theologians are all alike, of whatever religion or country they may be; their aim is always to wield despotic authority over men's consciences; they therefore persecute all of us who have the temerity to tell the truth. — Frederick The Great

It is the fashion these days to make war, and presumably it will last a while yet. — Frederick The Great

A man with his heart in his profession imagines and finds resources where the worthless and lazy despair. — Frederick The Great

Pleasure is the most real good in this life. — Frederick The Great

Great advantage is drawn from knowledge of your adversary, and when you know the measure of his intelligence and character, you can use it to play on his weakness. — 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

Being goal directed is not enough to conquer your enemy. To achieve your goal you need to know and be able to utilize all the resources available to you. This includes the knowledge of all those available to you as well as using the physical resources and those who control them. — Frederick The Great

If I wished to punish a province, I would have it governed by philosophers. — Frederick The Great

The cruel man is of misanthropic temperament, and is a man of moods, oscillating from quiet brooding to sudden explosions. If a man like this does not fight this unhappy provision of his soul during his youth, under no circumstances could he a void becoming furious - and foolish. There are those who would leave it up to God, but to ensure justice on the earth, and not fob it off to the Divinity, it is mandatory that people know both virtue and its benefits, since the virtues lead to unity among them, not the war of all against all. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to conserve them, and show that crime can only return misfortunes and destruction, including of the criminal himself. Who is the last victim of his crimes. — Frederick The Great

Euler calculated the force of the wheels necessary to raise the water in a reservoir ... My mill was carried out geometrically and could not raise a drop of water fifty yards from the reservoir. Vanity of vanities! Vanity of geometry! — Frederick The Great

My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfied us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please. — Frederick The Great

It does not pay a man to exist until the age of Methuselah by making his days indolent and useless. The more this is reflected upon, them ore the reflector will desire to undertake meaningful and useful actions, the more they will have lived. — Frederick The Great

Books make up no small part of human happiness. — Frederick The Great

I have no fault to find with those who teach geometry. That science is the only one which has not produced sects; it is founded on analysis and on synthesis and on the calculus; it does not occupy itself with the probable truth; moreover it has the same method in every country. — Frederick The Great

A king is the first servant and first magistrate of the state. — Frederick The Great

I begin by taking. I shall find scholars later to demonstrate my perfect right. — Frederick The Great

A prince ... is only the first servant of the state, who is obliged to act with probity and prudence. ... As the sovereign is properly the head of a family of citizens, the father of his people, he ought on all occasions to be the last refuge of the unfortunate. — Frederick The Great

What is the good of experience if you do not reflect? — Frederick The Great

In trying to defend everything he defended nothing. — Frederick The Great

Just as people are born, live a time, and die by diseases or old age, in the same way republics are formed, flower a few centuries, and perish finally by the audacity of a citizen, or by the weapons of their enemies. All has their period; all empires, and largest monarchies even, have only so much time: the republics feel continually that this time will arrive, and they look at any too-powerful family as the carriers of a disease which will give them the blow of death. — Frederick The Great

A German singer! I should as soon expect to get pleasure from the neighing of my horse. — Frederick The Great

Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer, and the King does not believe that coffee-drinking soldiers can be relied upon to endure hardships in case of another war. — Frederick The Great

Artillery adds dignity, to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl. — Frederick The Great

To your care and recommendation am I indebted for having replaced a half-blind mathematician with a mathematician with both eyes, which will especially please the anatomical members of my Academy. — Frederick The Great

It seems to me that man is made to act rather than to know: the principles of things escape our most persevering researches. — Frederick The Great

Do not neglect the principles of foresight and know that often, puffed up with success, armies have lost the fruit of their heroism through a feeling of false security. — Frederick The Great

A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in. — Frederick The Great

Compare Holland with Russia; you see only marshy and sterile islands in the former, which rise from the center of the ocean: a small republic which is only 48 miles length by 40 wide. But this small body is the very nerve-center of the region: immense people live in it, and these industrious people are both powerful and rich. They shook the yoke of the Spanish domination, which was then the most formidable monarchy of Europe. The trade of this republic extends to the ends of the world; and new trade appears almost immediately; it can maintain in times of war an army fifty thousand men, without counting a many and well maintained fleet. — Frederick The Great

THE MORE I SEE OF MEN, THE BETTER I LIKE MY DOG." ~ Frederick the Great — Frederick The Great

It is disgusting to note the increase in the quantity of coffee used by my subjects and the amount of money that goes out of the country in consequence. Everybody is using coffee. If possible, this must be prevented. My people must drink beer. — 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

My people must drink beer. — Frederick The Great

Christianity is an old metaphysical fiction, stuffed with fables, contradictions and absurdities: it was spawned in the fevered imagination of the Orientals, and then spread to our Europe, where some fanatics espoused it, where some intriguers pretended to be convinced by it and where some imbeciles actually believed it. — Frederick The Great

The Miracle of the House of Brandenburg had come to pass. — 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

Little minds try to defend everything at once, but sensible people look at the main point only; they parry the worst blows and stand a little hurt if thereby they avoid a greater one. If you try to hold everything, you hold nothing. — Frederick The Great

Diplomacy without arms is like a concert without a score — Frederick The Great

I think it better to keep a profound silence with regard to the Christian fables, which are canonized by their antiquity and the credulity of absurd and insipid people. — Frederick The Great

It is impossible to imitate Voltaire without being Voltaire. — Frederick The Great

Christianity - An old metaphysical romance, filled with marvels, contradictions, and absurdity, born in the ardent imagination of Orientals, has spread into our Europe. Enthusiasts have purveyed it, careerists have pretended to accept it, imbeciles have believed it. — Frederick The Great

Rogues, would you live forever? — Frederick The Great

N]either antiquity nor any other nation has imagined a more atrocious and blasphemous absurdity than that of eating God. This is how Christians treat the autocrat of the universe. — Frederick The Great

God is always with the strongest battalions. — Frederick The Great

I love opposition that has convictions. — Frederick The Great

Our work is to present things that are as they are. — Frederick The Great

Man is made for error; it enters his mind naturally, and he discovers a few truths only with the greatest effort. — Frederick The Great

The people say what they like and then I do what I like — Frederick The Great

Great things are achieved only when we take great risks. — Frederick The Great

If the men were without passions, it would be forgivable to see Machiavel try to give some to them; he would be the new [[Prometheus]] bringing celestial fire to breathe life into robots. But no man is without passions. When they are moderated, they are the heart of the enterprise; but when the brake is stripped of them, they are its destruction. — Frederick The Great

Every man must get to Heaven his own way. — Frederick The Great

Though I may not be a king in my future life, so much the better: I shall nevertheless live an active life and, on top of it, earn less ingratitude. — Frederick The Great

If my soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army. — Frederick The Great

Don't forget your great guns, which are the most respectable arguments of the rights of kings. — Frederick The Great

Religion is the idol of the mob; it adores everything it does not understand. — Frederick The Great

It is enough", this malicious man tells us, "to extinguish the line of the defeated prince." Can one read this without quivering in horror and indignation? — Frederick The Great

He who defends everything, defends nothing. — Frederick The Great

Always presume that the enemy has dangerous designs and always be forehanded with the remedy. But do not let these calculations make your timid. — 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

One should never despair too soon. — Frederick The Great

No government can exist without taxation. The money must necessarily be levied on the people; and the grand art consists of levying so as not to oppress. — Frederick The Great

Be more than you seem to be. — Frederick The Great

But France's powerful armies, and a very large number of fortresses, ensure that the French Sovereign will possess the throne forever, and they do not have anything to fear now concerning internal wars or their neighbors invading France. — Frederick The Great

Every man has a wild beast within him. — Frederick The Great

A man, who can, in cold blood, hunt and torture a poor, innocent animal, cannot feel much compassion for the distress of his own species. — Frederick The Great

(About Cesare Borgia) What cruelties were not the result of his? Who could count all his crimes? Such was the man that Machiavel prefers to all the great geniuses of his time, and to the heroes of antiquity, and of which he finds the life and action make a good example for those that fortune favors. — Frederick The Great

You will certainly grant me that neither antiquity nor whatever nation has devised a more repulsive and blasphemous absurdity than that of eating your God. This is the most disgusting dogma of Christian religion, the greatest insult to the Highest Being, the climax of madness and insanity. — Frederick The Great

An educated people can be easily governed. — Frederick The Great