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# Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Rome, used to say that one should speak Spanish with God, French with friends, German with the enemy, and Italian with the fair sex
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/karl-piatyi-rimskii-imperator-govarival-chto-ishpanskim-s-bogom-frantsuzskim-s-druziami-nemetskim-s-nepriiatelem-italianskim-s-zhenskim-polom-govorit-prilichno/
- Published: 2024-08-21T11:38:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:32:54.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Monarchies, People

Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Rome, used to say that one should speak Spanish with God, French with friends, German with the enemy, and Italian with the fair sex. But had he been skilled in the Russian tongue, he would surely have added that one may fittingly speak it with all of them, for he would have found in it the magnificence of Spanish, the liveliness of French, the strength of German, the tenderness of Italian, and, besides, the richness and the vigorous brevity in description of Greek and Latin.

Mikhail Lomonosov