Louis XIV "L'état, c'est moi" - "I am the state". Demonstrates his ABSOLUTIST POWER and his belief in divine right of kings.
Henry IV "Paris is worth a mass". He converted from Calvinism to Catholicism, putting interests of France before his as a POLITIQUE.
René Descartes "I think, therefore I am". Reflects his belief for DEDUCTIVE reasoning and dividing existence into MIND and BODY (CARTESIAN DUALISM)
Niccoló Machiavelli
"It is greater to be feared than loved." He advised rulers to instill FEAR in their subjects for the greatest POWER and success.
Voltaire "Crush the infamous thing!" This man's and other philosophes' opinions on the CHURCH and CHRISTIANITY.
Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (1762) "All men are born free, but elsewhere they are in chains" states his belief that society "chains" people
John Locke "Life, liberty, and property"
Machiavelli " A prince should have only one end and one idea in mind, take only one subject for study, and it is war, its science and discipline; for it is the only science that deals with the ruler's problems. ...[Success in war] not only maintains those born to princedoms but often causes men of private origin to rise to that rank. ...The first cause of losing power is the neglect of this art; the cause of winning power lies in its mastery."
"Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." Martin Luther, Diet of Worms (1521)
"I am the first servant of the state." Frederick the Great
"Ecrasez l'infâme!" // "Eliminate the infamous thing!" Voltaire, letter to Jean d'Alembert (1762)
"The end justifies the means." Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)
"No arts; no