Catherine the Great vs Peter the Great: who truly forged Russia?

You built a capital on a swamp with the bones of thousands, then called it a window to Europe.

I opened that window, madam, so that you might later lean out of it and admire the view.

I did more than admire it — I filled the palace with Voltaire, doubled the empire, and never had to shave a single nobleman's beard to be obeyed.

Correspondence with philosophers is charming, but I taught Russia to build ships; you merely taught it to write flattering letters about yourself.