Displaying Top 10 Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord quotes

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Treason is a matter of dates.

At the Congress of Vienna, Tsar Alexander I of Russia tried to justify his actions with regards to the proposed annexation of the - formerly French-aligned - Kingdom of Saxony by Prussia by calling King Frederick Augustus of Saxony 'a traitor to the cause of Europe', to which Talleyrand replied:


Napoleon would always be listening with his ear to the door.

While describing a possible Napoleonic regency:


This is the beginning of the end.

Comment on Napoleon's defeat at Borodino, 1812.


Above all, not too much zeal.

His advice to his company, a motto which accompanied his household: