Power is a companion it is not easy to part with, when it goes, the zest of life goes with it. With dry eyes and clenched fist, one stares after it, jealous of the next one it will single out.

I am said to be the most beautiful woman in Europe. About that, of course, I cannot judge because I cannot know. But about the other queens, I know. I am the most beautiful queen in Europe.

Nothing is ours really, not even our own souls!

My love for my country is my religion.

in much knowledge there is also much grief.

What curious little corners of folly are to be found in even the sanest brain!

Fashion exists for women with no taste, etiquette for people with no breeding.

We who are placed above the crowd are not climbing ... so we are never out of breath.

Are all ends of life so sad?

To be entirely happy in marriage, the same thing must be important to both.

People usually have to be dragged kicking and screaming into what’s good for them.

America was born out of a desire for self-determination, a longing for the human dignity that only independence can bring.

After you get what you want you don't want it.

Without love, the world itself would not survive.

I wouldn't be worth my salt if I weren't attracting some controversy and criticism. Everyone in the world who has done something in life has attracted criticism.

The finest life is spent creating oneself, not procreating.

That'’s a way to increase the realism to the reader, if you want to get technical - you leave it [character] vague and you let the reader fill in the blanks with their imagination.

I think it's important that we have a new batch of British film-makers that aren't doing the same old stuff. And that includes me.

Water is best, but gold shines like fire blazing in the night, supreme of lordly wealth.

I like to figure things out and solve problems.