Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes
Best quotes by the French Leader Napoleon Bonaparte
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History is a set of lies agreed upon.
Religious wars are basically people killing each other over who has the better imaginary friend.
There are two levers for moving men -- interest and fear.
Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools.
You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your tricks of war.
Courage cannot be counterfeited. It is one virtue that escapes hypocrisy.
Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.
The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.
An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.
The future destiny of the child is always the work of the mother.
I base my calculations on the expectation that luck will be against me
As for me, to love you alone, to make you happy, to do nothing which would contradict your wishes, this is my destiny and the meaning of my life.
It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.
Ability is of little account without opportunity.
Once you have made up your mind, stick to it; there is no longer any 'if' or 'but'.
A leader is a dealer in hope.
One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.
A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.
Courage is like love; it must have hope to nourish it.
My downfall raises me to infinite heights.
Great people are meteors designed to burn so that the earth may be lighted.
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.
The conscience is the sacred haven of the liberty of man.
Victory belongs to the most persevering.
Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means.
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
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Napoleon Bonaparte's Quotes About
Go to table of contentsNapoleon Bonaparte control quotes
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If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
It is not enough to give orders they must be obeyed.
I have only one counsel for you -- be master.
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
The art of the police is not to see what it is useless that it should see.
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Napoleon Bonaparte fear quotes
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Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
Men are Moved by two levers only: fear and self interest
There are only two forces that unite men -- fear and interest.
There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.
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Napoleon Bonaparte leadership quotes
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An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.
A leader is a dealer in hope.
Men are lead by trifles.
When firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary.
Every private in the French army carries a Field Marshall wand in his knapsack.
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Napoleon Bonaparte politics quotes
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He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
In politics, an absurdity in public business is going into it.
In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.
In politics, an absurdity is not a handicap.
In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
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Napoleon Bonaparte ability quotes
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Ability is of little account without opportunity.
Ability is nothing without opportunity.
The extent of your consciousness is limited only by your ability to love and to embrace with your love the space around you, and all it contains
The extent of your consciousness is limited only by your ability to love and to embrace with your love the space around you, and all it contains.
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The most dangerous moment comes with victory.
The only one who is wiser than anyone is everyone.
Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
The human race is governed by its imagination.
Imagination rules the world.
Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.
The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.
Ten persons who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.
If you wish to be success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
Truth alone wounds.
You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.
You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks.
The only victory over love is flight.
Medicine is a collection of uncertain prescriptions, the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind.
The greatest general is he who makes the fewest mistakes.
Who saves his country violates no law.
Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.
Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.
It is not enough to give orders they must be obeyed.
There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter.
Music of all the arts has the most influence on the passions and the legislator should give it the greatest encouragement.
Few things are brought to a sucessful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought.
With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything.
When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.
Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.
Let the path be open to talent.
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
The art of government is not to let me grow stale.
Large legislative bodies resolve themselves into coteries, and coteries into jealousies.
True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat.
We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.
I made all my generals out of mud.
The French complain of everything, and always.
When I want any, good head work done; I always choose a man, if possible with a long nose.
A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything.
A man's palate can, in time, become accustomed to anything.
Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.
He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
Ability is nothing without opportunity.
I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.
Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principals which direct them.
Chance is the providence of adventurers.
The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.
True wisdom for a general is vigorous determination.
Men are Moved by two levers only: fear and self interest
Greatness be nothing unless it be lasting.
Men are lead by trifles.
Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.
Medicines are only fit for old people.
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.
In politics, an absurdity in public business is going into it.
The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.
A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
The most insupportable of tyrannies is that of inferiors.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
The extent of your consciousness is limited only by your ability to love and to embrace with your love the space around you, and all it contains
I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad soldiers; we will settle this matter by lunch time.
Character is victory organized.
Do you wish to find out the really sublime? Repeat the Lord's Prayer.
I have only one counsel for you -- be master.
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
There are only two forces that unite men -- fear and interest.
Public instruction should be the first object of government.
The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.
From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.
When firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary.
Every private in the French army carries a Field Marshall wand in his knapsack.
Incidents should not govern policy; but, policy incidents.
A true man hates no one.
Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.
Order marches with weighty and measured strides. Disorder is always in a hurry.
If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon-shots.
In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.
In politics, an absurdity is not a handicap.
Vengeance has no foresight.
Secrets travel fast in Paris.
There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.
Occupation is the scythe of time.
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.
Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.
Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.
A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.
The torment of precautions often exceeds often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.
Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.
A Constitution should be short and obscure.
The art of the police is not to see what it is useless that it should see.
I may be accused or rashness, but not sluggishness.
There is no class of people so hard to manage in a state, as those whose intentions are honest, but whose consciences are bewitched.
It is the cause, not the death that makes the martyr.
Do you know what amazes me more than anything else? The impotence of force to organize anything.
I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.
Respect the burden.
I am the successor, not of Louis XVI, but of Charlemagne.
What is history but a fable agreed upon?
If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.
The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.
A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.
If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.
The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.
The extent of your consciousness is limited only by your ability to love and to embrace with your love the space around you, and all it contains.
There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Women are nothing but machines for producing children.
An army marches on its stomach.
It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.
I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.
Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.
There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.
I have only one counsel for you - be master.
