"His Ministers, generals, mistresses, and courtiers soon found out his weak point,
namely, his love of hearing his own praises. There was nothing he liked so much as
flattery, or, to put it more plainly, adulation; the coarser and clumsier it was, the more
he relished it.... He took to himself the credit of their successes with admirable
complacency, and honestly believed that he was all his flatterers told him.... Not only
did he expect all persons of distinction to be in continual attendance at Court, but he
was quick to notice the absence of those of inferior degree... (I)n the gardens of
Versailles (the only place where the courtiers in general were allowed to follow him),
he used to cast his eyes to right and left; nothing escaped him, he saw everybody."
- Duc de Saint-Simon, c.1710
This passage is describing which absolutist ruler?
A) Louis XVI
B) Peter I
C) Henry VIII
D) Louis XIV
