"He is just a good, religious, simple-minded Russian. When in trouble or assailed by doubts, I like to have a talk with him, and I invariably feel at peace with myself afterward."

“That fat Rodzianko has again sent me some nonsense to which I will not even reply.”

“I will preserve the principle of Autocracy as firmly and unflinchingly as my late father.”

“I shall never, under any circumstances, agree to a representative form of government because I consider it harmful to the people whom God has entrusted to my care.”

“As long as I live, I will never trust that man again with the smallest thing. I had quite enough with last year’s experiment. It is still like a nightmare to me.”

“Rioting and disturbances in the capitals and in many localities of Our Empire fill Our heart with great and heavy grief. The well-being of the Russian Sovereign is inseparable from the national well-being; the national sorrow is His sorrow.”

“I am not prepared to be Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling. I even have no idea how to talk to the ministers.”