“The court is not a habitation made for me; I suffer each time that I must perform there and it makes my blood boil when I see the baseness almost always committed to acquire some distinction for which I would not have given three pennies. (…) I do not feel myself made for the place that I occupy and that I have sworn to renounce, one way or another. There, my dear friend, is the great secret that I have so long delayed to communicate to you. (…) How can a single man manage to govern [Russia] and even correct its abuses? This would be absolutely impossible not only for a man of ordinary abilities like me, but even for a genius, and I have always had the principle that it is better not to be entrusted with a job than to fulfill it badly; (…) My plan is to settle with my wife on the banks of Rhine, where I will live as a simple individual, making my happiness consist of the company of my friends and the study of nature. I know that you will blame me, but I cannot do otherwise, for a quiet conscience is my first rule, and it will never be quiet if I were to undertake something beyond my strength.”

an excerpt from the letter sent by Grand Duke Alexander to his friend, Viktor Kochubey, upon learning of his grandmother’s plans to make him her direct successor (May, 1896)