Alexandra quotes

[amartin71718]

I'm looking for any interesting quotes said by Alexandra. You can post either single quotes or exchanges between her and another person. They can be funny, serious, weird, whatever works. Thanks!

[Olga Maria]

Alexandra speaking to Lili:
“I don’t mind whether a person is rich or poor. Once my friend, always my friend.”
[Source: The Real Tsaritsa by Lili Dehn; Part I- Chapter 3]

[amartin71718]

Alexandra on hobble skirts:

Alexandra: "Do you really like this skirt?"
Lili Dehn: "Well, Madame, c'est la mode"  (It is the fashion.)
Alexandra: "It's no use whatever as a skirt. Now, Lili, prove to me that it is comfortable--run, Lili, run, and let me see how fast you can cover ground in it."

[Olga Maria]

"People forget that the greatest conqueror is he who conquers himself."

Source; Chapter 4- Part 1 The Real Tsaritsa by Lili Dehn

[Olga Maria]

From a letter to Anna Vyrubova:
“All is in God’s will. The deeper you look, the more you understand that this is so. All sorrows are sent us to free us from our sins or as a test of our faith, an example to others. It requires good food to make plants grow properly and the gardener, walking through His garden, wants to be pleased with His flowers. If they do not grow properly, he takes His pruning knife, and cuts, waiting for the sunshine to coax them into growth again”…
Source: Chapter 30 of  “Life and Tragedy of AF” by Sophie Buxhoeveden

[Ella von Hessen]

"If we will pursue our Friend, we and our country has suffered for it" (about Rasputin and Russia, a letter from his wife of 22 June 1915)
"I want to beat up almost all the ministers ..." (letter from his wife of 29 August 1915)
"The big brutes, I can not name them differently" (the Holy Synod, a letter from his wife of 12 September 1915)
"... A country where the man of God helps the emperor, never die. This is true (about Rasputin and Russia, a letter from his wife of 5 December 1915)
"Yes, I am more Russian than many others, and I will not sit still" (from a letter from his wife 20 September 1916)
"Why hate me? Because they know that I have a strong will, and that when I was convinced of the correctness of something (and if I'm blessed Gy [Igor]), then I do not change my opinion, and that is unbearable for them (of their foes and G. Rasputin, a letter from his wife of 4 December 1916)
"Why not allow the generals to send in the army" R. Banner (small patriotic newspaper)? Dubrovin finds that it is - a shame (I agree) - and read all sorts of proclamations they can? Our heads, right, idiots "(the newspaper" Russian standard "and its publisher, the Black Hundreds, a letter from his wife of 15 December 1916)
"I can not understand people who are afraid to die. I've always looked at death as a deliverance from earthly suffering "(from a conversation with her friend Julia Den 18 December 1916)
"I prefer to die in Russia, than to be rescued by the Germans" (from a conversation in prison in March 1918)

These quotes were translated from Russian.
I apologize if there are errors in them.

[/i]

[Olga Maria]

"What a great mystery life is  - all waiting round for the  birth of a human being, all awaiting the departure of  a soul. Something so grand in it all and one feels how small we mortals are and how great our Heavenly Father."

--December 2, 1915, Alix to Nicholas

Truly agree with this.

[Olga Maria]

November 14, 1894 (O.S.)
Alix to Nicholas -
"When this life is over, we will meet again in another world, and will stay together forever ..."

[Lady Macduff]

The following are all from a letter she wrote to Syroboiarsky, a soldier who was a patient at the lazaret. It's dated May 29, 1917.

"If reward is not here, then it is there, in the other world, and this is what we live for."
"The psychology of the masses is a terrible thing."
"Where are we? Where have we ended up? But God will save Russia yet."
"It hurts, it hurts all the time."

[Olga Maria]

"To have such a true and devoted friend is indeed a gift of God and I thank Him daily for it". (to Maria Bariatinsky, December 28, 1898, from Life & Tragedy of Alexandra F.)

[Grand Duchess Ayla]

She send it in a letter to Nicholas during the First World War:

"We must give a strong country to baby (Alexei). Be firm, Russia loves to feel the whip, it is their nature.
How I wish I could pour my will into your veins. Be Peter the Great, Ivan the Terrible, crush them all under you."

[Sanochka]

Reflecting on jubilee celebrations of 1913:  "They [the state ministers] are constantly frightening the Emperor with threats of revolution and here - you can see it for yourself - we need merely to show ourselves and at once their hearts are ours."

[Lady Macduff]

Funny that this thread got bumped today. I'm restarting Tatiana's section of my novella, and she has a big scene with Alix. I'm trying to keep their voices as authentic as possible so I've got lots of quotes stocked up.

Forgive me for not having sources handy. I can hunt them down individually if anyone wants.

If a miracle is necessary, I am sure a miracle will take place.
The devil trips a person up at every step.
There is no happiness in this world without one pays dearly for it.
The soul grows through suffering.

Seems she was very fond of speaking in platitudes, something that carried over into Tatiana's speech and letters as well.

[Grand Duchess Ayla]

"The way a man treats a woman is the best identification of his nobility."

[Ally Kumari]

"The way a man treats a woman is the best identification of his nobility."

The feminist in me loves this! May I ask about your source? Was it a letter, a diary entry or did somebody recorded it?

Alexandra´s quote are often sad, melancholic, but at times she also comes across as rather pretentious and "holier than thou". It really depends on context.