Skip to content

We may employ artifice to deceive a rival, anything against our enemies.

— Cardinal Richelieu

Pour tromper un rival l'artifice est permis; on peut tout employer contres ses ennemis.

Original text (French)

Another quote →

Notes from Wikiquote

As quoted in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources (1899) by James Wood

Variants

To mislead a rival, deception is permissible; one may use all means against his enemies.

More quotes by Cardinal Richelieu

Had Luther and Calvin been confined before they had begun to dogmatize, the states would have been spared many troubles.

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)

Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.

To know how to dissemble is the knowledge of kings.

To mislead a rival, deception is permissible; one may use all means against his enemies.

Artifice is allowable in deceiving a rival, we may employ everything against our enemies.

All Cardinal Richelieu quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Cardinal Richelieu (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.