Napoléon Bonaparte Quotes

This man Wellington is so stupid he does not know when he is beaten and goes on fighting.

Fashion condemns us to many follies the greatest is to make oneself its slave.

Time is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at and who steals what is most precious to men.

There are only two forces that unite men-fear and interest.

A revolution is an idea, taken up by bayonets.

You may ask me for anything you like except time.

Courage isn't having the strength to go on - it is going on when you don't have strength.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.

Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures but in the use made of them.

In our time no one has the conception of what is great. It is up to me to show them.

Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.

Music is what tell us that the human race is greater than we realize.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

10 persons who speak make more noise than 10 000 who are silent.

There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.

Courage is like love, it must have hope for nourishment.

As to moral courage I have very rarely met with the two o'clock in the morning kind. I mean unprepared courage that which is necessary on an unexpected occasion and which in spite of the most unforeseen events leaves full freedom of judgement and decision.

Glory is fleeting but obscurity is forever.

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

Imagination governs the world.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.

Nothing is more difficult and therefore more precious than to be able to decide.

My downfall raises me to infinite heights.

The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue courage is only the second virtue.

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter.

As for moral courage, it is very rare, he said, to find that kind found at 2 o'clock in the morning; that is to say, courage in the face of the unexpected.

The hand that gives is among the hand that takes. Money has no fatherland, financiers are without patriotism and without decency, their sole object is gain.

Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.

The greatest general is he who makes the fewest mistakes.

I often asked Laplace what he thought of God. He owned that he was an atheist.

There are two levers for moving men - interest and fear.

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

If you start to take Vienna take Vienna.

The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.

All celebrated people lose dignity on a close view.

The heart of a statesman should be in his head.

To write history one must be more than a man, since the author who holds the pen of this great justiciary must be free from all preoccupation of interest or vanity.

The surest way to remain poor is to be honest.

One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

Courage is like love it must have hope for nourishment.

The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.

Ability is of little account without opportunity.

If they want peace nations should avoid the pinpricks that precede cannon shots.

Men of great ambition have sought happiness . . . and have found fame.

History is written by the winners.

Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.

Always carry champagne! In victory You deserve it & in defeat You need it!

All the scholastic scaffolding falls as a ruined edifice before a single word: faith.

To do all that one is able to do is to be a man to do all that one would like to do is to be a god.

I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay hands on everything they can get.

The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.

Men take only their needs into consideration never their abilities.

In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.

With audacity one can undertake anything.

Men of learning in Milan have not enjoyed proper respect. They hid themselves in their laboratories and thought themselves lucky if . . . priests left them alone. All is changed today. Thought in Italy is free. Inquisition, intolerance, despots have vanished. I invite scholars to meet and propose what must be done to give science and the arts a new flowering.

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.