"It is my great desire to reform my subjects, and yet I am ashamed to confess that I am unable to reform myself."

"I have never been afraid of hard work."

"It is better to be feared than loved, if one cannot be both."

"To talk much and arrive at no conclusion is a bad habit and a disease. It is a waste of time and an obstacle to business."

"I will make Russia a great power, even if it kills me."