Metternich was in his own opinion the light of the world, and he blinded himself with the rays

Metternich was in his own opinion the light of the world, and he blinded himself with the rays reflected in the mirror he held up continuously before his eyes. There was in him a chronic hypertrophy of the ego which developed relentlessly

Albert Sorel, quoted in A. Zamoyski, Rites of Peace (2007), 37