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Home  »  Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men  »  Cardinal Dubois

S.A. Bent, comp. Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men. 1887.

Cardinal Dubois

  • [Guillaume Dubois, a French ecclesiastic and statesman of scandalous life and character; born in Limousin, 1656; preceptor to the Duke de Chartres, afterwards the Regent Orleans, whose favor he gained by pandering to his vices; became councillor of state, and showed great astuteness in political matters; minister of foreign affairs; archbishop of Cambrai, and cardinal, 1721; prime minister the next year; died 1725.]
  • To become a great man, it is necessary to be a great rascal (Pour devenir grand homme, il faut être grand scélérat).

  • It was worthy to have been the maxim of his life.
  • After being kicked five times by the regent, once each for the rogue, the pimp, the priest, the minister, the archbishop, Dubois coolly remarked, “I pardon you, because I await the sixth as cardinal.”