'Not only were great things done in his reign but he did them himself'.
- Voltaire
'He had his faults, the sun has its sunspots
But it still remains the sun.'
- From the verses of pere de la Rue
'Physically he was magnificent, with his great height, clear-cut features, and grand air. The portraits of him in his youth with his own hair waving over his shoulders have a boyish charm which departed when periwig and pomposity came on the scene.
He excelled in all outdoor sports and indoor accomplishments, danced well, fenced well, rode well, shot well, sang deliciously, played the guitar like a professional and managed the four horses of his caleche with consummate skill. In fine, a paragon -- "the most magnificent specimen of the Royal Creature", as he has recently been described.'
- Maud Cruttwell
One may not warm to Louis XIV, one may even detest him. But it is difficult not to respect, with his grandeur and his weakness, his glory and his mistakes, the king whom the German-born Protestant Leibniz described as 'one of the greatest kings who ever lived.'
- Francois Bluche
Scenes from the movie Le Roi Danse.