My People And I Have Come

This sardonic quip, attributed to Frederick in various forms, reflects his complex relationship with press freedom and public opinion. Despite ruling as an absolute monarch, Frederick permitted relatively wide freedom of the press within Prussia and reportedly tolerated critical pamphlets and caricatures with equanimity, famously saying that newspapers should be left alone so long as they did not interfere with actual governance. The remark captures his Enlightenment-inflected view that speech was largely harmless while power remained firmly in the hands of the sovereign.