May 12, 2025

Every time I create an appointment, I create a hundred malcontents and one ingrate.

Louis XIV (1638-1715), King of France, in Voltaire [François-Marie Arouet], Siècle de Louis XIV (1768 ed.) vol. 2, in Jay 232

What are the sources of any discontent on your part? Is it warranted? Or are you simply an ingrate?

Speaking from experience, I can assure you that the sole ingrate, vis-à-vis the one hundred malcontents, disturbs things to the same extent as the joy one repentant sinner provokes in heaven, vis-à-vis the ninety-nine who need no repentance.