Empress Maria Theresia of Austria by Martin van Meytens
Prussia, Russia and Austria were negotiating among themselves Poland’s partition. Maria Theresa lamented: “Every partition is iniquitous. I can only deplore this proposal and say how ashamed I am to show myself in public.”
When the Empress’s ministers brought to her attention how her scruples could be interpreted as a sign of weakness, she replied: “I prefer that the world view me as weak rather than dishonest.”
Fernando Palazzi, Enciclopedia degli aneddoti (Milan: Ceschina, 1946), 3 vols., Col. 9273. (Nobility.org translation.)
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 71
