“It had been the custom not merely to ask them [the estates] for large sums in order to obtain meager ones, but also to tolerate their putting conditions on everything, to promise them everything, to circumvent everything they had been promised thereafter under various pretexts, even to issue a great number of edicts with no other intention than to grant, or rather to sell, their revocation soon thereafter. I found this method undignified for the sovereign and unsatisfactory to the subject. I chose an entirely different one which I have always followed since, which was to ask them for precisely what I intended to obtain, to promise little, to keep my promises faithfully, hardly ever to accept conditions, but to surpass their expectations when they appealed to my justice and to my kindness.”
I understand how the ideas of a king, especially an absolute monarch who ruled very independently, may seem a poor model to read about, however, don’t miss the force of the quote. Rather being someone who vacillated in position, tried to play to the crowd, and often lied about what he was to do (all behind the facade of offering great liberality to the people), Louis XIV determined to be the honest man. Look at this checklist:
- ask them for precisely what I intended to obtain
- to promise little (especially in terms of extravagance merely to gain public support)
- to keep my promises faithfully
- hardly ever to accept conditions
- to surpass their expectations
Be candid, keep your promises, surpass expectations…not a bad way to live life.