Napoleon I of France

Send me 300 francs; that sum will enable me to go to Paris. There, at least, one can cut a figure and surmount obstacles. Everything tells me I shall succeed. Will you prevent me from doing so for the want of 100 crowns?

— Napoleon I of France

My waking thoughts are all of thee. Your portrait and the remembrance of last night's delirium have robbed my senses of repose. Sweet and incomparable Josephine, what an extraordinary influence you have over my heart. Are you vexed? Do I see you sad? Are you ill at ease? My soul is broken with grief, and there is no rest for your lover.

— Napoleon I of France

All great events hang by a hair. The man of ability takes advantage of everything and neglects nothing that can give him a chance of success; whilst the less able man sometimes loses everything by neglecting a single one of those chances.

— Napoleon I of France

From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.

— Napoleon I of France

What I have done up to this is nothing. I am only at the beginning of the course I must run. Do you imagine that I triumph in Italy in order to aggrandise the pack of lawyers who form the Directory, and men like Carnot and Barras? What an idea!

— Napoleon I of France

I hope the time is not far off when I shall be able to unite all the wise and educated men of all the countries and establish a uniform regime based on the principles of the Quran which alone are true and which alone can lead men to happiness.

— Napoleon I of France

The barbarous custom of having men beaten who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men, by putting them to torture, produces nothing worthwhile. The poor wretches say anything that comes into their mind and what they think the interrogator wishes to know.

— Napoleon I of France

A form of government that is not the result of a long sequence of shared experiences, efforts, and endeavors can never take root.

— Napoleon I of France

From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.

— Napoleon I of France

If the art of war were nothing but the art of avoiding risks, glory would become the prey of mediocre minds.... I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest.

— Napoleon I of France

What is a throne? — a bit of wood gilded and covered in velvet. I am the state— I alone am here the representative of the people. Even if I had done wrong you should not have reproached me in public — people wash their dirty linen at home. France has more need of me than I of France.

— Napoleon I of France

France is invaded; I am leaving to take command of my troops, and, with God's help and their valor, I hope soon to drive the enemy beyond the frontier.

— Napoleon I of France

The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.

— Napoleon I of France

The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon is the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of peace in Europe, he, faithful to his oath, declares that he is ready to descend from the throne, to quit France, and even to relinquish life, for the good of his country.

— Napoleon I of France

Unite for the public safety, if you would remain an independent nation.

— Napoleon I of France

Wherever wood can swim, there I am sure to find this flag of England.

— Napoleon I of France

Whatever shall we do in that remote spot? Well, we will write our memoirs. Work is the scythe of time.

— Napoleon I of France

I generally had to give in.

— Napoleon I of France

I may have had many projects, but I never was free to carry out any of them. It did me little good to be holding the helm; no matter how strong my hands, the sudden and numerous waves were stronger still, and I was wise enough to yield to them rather than resist them obstinately and make the ship founder. Thus I never was truly my own master but was always ruled by circumstances.

— Napoleon I of France

What then is, generally speaking, the truth of history? A fable agreed upon.

— Napoleon I of France

Women are nothing but machines for producing children.

— Napoleon I of France

My maxim was, la carrière est ouverte aux talents, without distinction of birth or fortune.

— Napoleon I of France

Religions are all founded on miracles — on things we cannot understand, such as the Trinity. Jesus calls himself the Son of God, and yet is descended from David. I prefer the religion of Mahomet — it is less ridiculous than ours.

— Napoleon I of France

The Mohammedan religion is the finest of all

— Napoleon I of France

Muhammad was a great man, an intrepid soldier; with a handful of men he triumphed at the battle of Bender (sic); a great captain, eloquent, a great man of state, he revived his fatherland and created a new people and a new power in the middle of Arabia.

— Napoleon I of France

Muhammad was a prince; he rallied his compatriots around him. In a few years, the Muslims conquered half of the world. They plucked more souls from false gods, knocked down more idols, razed more pagan temples in fifteen years than the followers of Moses and Jesus did in fifteen centuries. Muhammad was a great man. He would indeed have been a god, if the revolution that he had performed had not been prepared by the circumstances.

— Napoleon I of France

Our hour is marked, and no one can claim a moment of life beyond what fate has predestined.

— Napoleon I of France

I see that everybody has lost their head since the infamous capitulation of Bailén. I realise that I must go there myself to get the machine working again.

— Napoleon I of France

Ordinary men died, men of iron were taken prisoner: I only brought back with me men of bronze.

— Napoleon I of France

Among so many conflicting ideas and so many different perspectives, the honest man is confused and distressed and the skeptic becomes wicked … Since one must take sides, one might as well choose the side that is victorious, the side which devastates, loots, and burns. Considering the alternative, it is better to eat than to be eaten.

— Napoleon I of France

A cowardly act! What do I care about that? You may be sure that I should never fear to commit one if it were to my advantage.

— Napoleon I of France

The true conquests, the only ones that cause no regret, are those made over ignorance.

— Napoleon I of France

Immortality is the best recollection one leaves.

— Napoleon I of France

Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied.

— Napoleon I of France

Malice delights to blacken the characters of prominent men.

— Napoleon I of France

More glorious to merit a sceptre than to possess one.

— Napoleon I of France

Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others.

— Napoleon I of France

When you have an enemy in your power, deprive him of the means of ever injuring you.

— Napoleon I of France

He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat.

— Napoleon I of France

The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances.

— Napoleon I of France

What is the government? nothing, unless supported by opinion.

— Napoleon I of France

A constitution should be framed so as not to impede the action of government, nor force the government to its violation.

— Napoleon I of France

The people must not be counted upon; they cry indifferently : "Long live the King!" and "Long live the Conspirators!" a proper direction must be given to them, and proper instruments employed to effect it.

— Napoleon I of France

Hereditary succession to the magistracy is absurd, as it tends to make a property of it; it is incompatible with the sovereignty of the people.

— Napoleon I of France

Orders and decorations are necessary in order to dazzle the people.

— Napoleon I of France

Power is founded upon opinion.

— Napoleon I of France

Sometimes a great example is necessary to all the public functionaries of the state.

— Napoleon I of France

A Government protected by foreigners will never be accepted by a free people.

— Napoleon I of France

A great people may be killed, but they cannot be intimidated.

— Napoleon I of France

A great reserve and severity of manners are necessary for the command of those who are older than ourselves.

— Napoleon I of France

A king is sometimes obliged to commit crimes; but they are the crimes of his position.

— Napoleon I of France

A King should sacrifice the best affections of his heart for the good of his country; no sacrifice should be above his determination.

— Napoleon I of France

Many a one commits a reprehensible action, who is at bottom an honourable man, because man seldom acts upon natural impulse, but from some secret passion of the moment which lies hidden and concealed within the narrowest folds of his heart.

— Napoleon I of France

The life of a citizen is the property of his country.

— Napoleon I of France

You cannot treat with all the world at once.

— Napoleon I of France

There are only two forces that unite men — fear and interest. All great revolutions originate in fear, for the play of interests does not lead to accomplishment.

— Napoleon I of France

Audacity succeeds as often as it fails; in life it has an even chance.

— Napoleon I of France

The superior man is never in anyone's way.

— Napoleon I of France

There are so many laws that no one is safe from hanging.

— Napoleon I of France

Success is the most convincing talker in the world.

— Napoleon I of France

As a rule it is circumstances that make men.

— Napoleon I of France

Impatience is a great obstacle to success; he who treats everything with brusqueness gathers nothing, or only immature fruit which will never ripen.

— Napoleon I of France

One must indeed be ignorant of the methods of genius to suppose that it allows itself to be cramped by forms. Forms are for mediocrity, and it is fortunate that mediocrity can act only according to routine. Ability takes its flight unhindered.

— Napoleon I of France

Never depend on the multitude, full of instability and whims; always take precautions against it.

— Napoleon I of France

From triumph to downfall is but a step. I have seen a trifle decide the most important issues in the gravest affairs.

— Napoleon I of France

It is only by prudence, wisdom, and dexterity, that great ends are attained and obstacles overcome. Without these qualities nothing succeeds.

— Napoleon I of France

The man fitted for affairs and authority never considers individuals, but things and their consequences.

— Napoleon I of France

A congress of the powers is deceit agreed on between diplomats — it is the pen of Machiavelli combined with the scimitar of Mahomet.

— Napoleon I of France

Destiny urges me to a goal of which I am ignorant. Until that goal is attained I am invulnerable, unassailable. When Destiny has accomplished her purpose in me, a fly may suffice to destroy me.

— Napoleon I of France

Necessity dominates inclination, will, and right.

— Napoleon I of France

Men have their virtues and their vices, their heroisms and their perversities; men are neither wholly good nor wholly bad, but possess and practice all that there is of good and bad here below. Such is the general rule. Temperament, education, the accidents of life, are modifying factors. Outside of this, everything is ordered arrangement, everything is chance. Such has been my rule of expectation and it has usually brought me success.

— Napoleon I of France

Whatever misanthropists may say, ingrates and the perverse are exceptions in the human species.

— Napoleon I of France

The great mass of society are far from being depraved; for if a large majority were criminal or inclined to break the laws, where would the force or power be to prevent or constrain them? And herein is the real blessing of civilization, because this happy result has its origin in her bosom, growing out of her very nature.

— Napoleon I of France

Imagination governs the world.

— Napoleon I of France

What are we? What is the future? What is the past? What magic fluid envelops us and hides from us the things it is most important for us to know? We are born, we live, and we die in the midst of the marvelous.

— Napoleon I of France

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

— Napoleon I of France

Man achieves in life only by commanding the capabilities nature has given him, or by creating them within himself by education and by knowing how to profit by the difficulties encountered.

— Napoleon I of France

It is a mistake, too, to say that the face is the mirror of the soul. The truth is, men are very hard to know, and yet, not to be deceived, we must judge them by their present actions, but for the present only.

— Napoleon I of France

One is more certain to influence men, to produce more effect on them, by absurdities than by sensible ideas.

— Napoleon I of France

It is not true that men never change; they change for the worse, as well as for the better. It is not true they are ungrateful; more often the benefactor rates his favors higher than their worth; and often too he does not allow for circumstances. If few men have the moral force to resist impulses, most men do carry within themselves the germs of virtues as well as of vices, of heroism as well as of cowardice. Such is human nature — education and circumstances do the rest.

— Napoleon I of France

Ordinarily men exercise their memory much more than their judgment.

— Napoleon I of France

There is nothing so imperious as feebleness which feels itself supported by force.

— Napoleon I of France

True character stands the test of emergencies. Do not be mistaken, it is weakness from which the awakening is rude.

— Napoleon I of France

How many seemingly impossible things have been accomplished by resolute men because they had to do, or die.

— Napoleon I of France

The fool has one great advantage over a man of sense — he is always satisfied with himself.

— Napoleon I of France

Simpletons talk of the past, wise men of the present, and fools of the future.

— Napoleon I of France

One must learn to forgive and not to hold a hostile, bitter attitude of mind, which offends those about us and prevents us from enjoying ourselves; one must recognize human shortcomings and adjust himself to them rather than to be constantly finding fault with them.

— Napoleon I of France

It is not necessary to prohibit or encourage oddities of conduct which are not harmful.

— Napoleon I of France

The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.

— Napoleon I of France

In love the only safety is in flight.

— Napoleon I of France

I do not believe it is in our nature to love impartially. We deceive ourselves when we think we can love two beings, even our own children, equally. There is always a dominant affection.

— Napoleon I of France

In politics nothing is immutable. Events carry within them an invincible power. The unwise destroy themselves in resistance. The skillful accept events, take strong hold of them and direct them.

— Napoleon I of France

It is only with prudence, sagacity, and much dexterity that great aims are accomplished, and all obstacles surmounted. Otherwise nothing is accomplished.

— Napoleon I of France

The great difficulty with politics is, that there are no established principles.

— Napoleon I of France

The truth is that one ought to serve his people worthily, and not strive solely to please them. The best way to gain a people is to do that which is best for them. Nothing is more dangerous than to flatter a people. If it does not get what it wants immediately, it is irritated and thinks that promises have not been kept; and if then it is resisted, it hates so much the more as it feels itself deceived.

— Napoleon I of France

Lead the ideas of your time and they will accompany and support you; fall behind them and they drag you along with them; oppose them and they will overwhelm you.

— Napoleon I of France

There is no such thing as an absolute despotism; it is only relative. A man cannot wholly free himself from obligation to his fellows. A sultan who cut off heads from caprice, would quickly lose his own in the same way. Excesses tend to check themselves by reason of their own violence. What the ocean gains in one place it loses in another.

— Napoleon I of France

We are made weak both by idleness and distrust of ourselves. Unfortunate, indeed, is he who suffers from both. If he is a mere individual he becomes nothing; if he is a king he is lost.

— Napoleon I of France

A prince should suspect everything.

— Napoleon I of France

In politics, an absurdity is not an impediment.

— Napoleon I of France

The most difficult art is not in the choice of men, but in giving to the men chosen the highest service of which they are capable.

— Napoleon I of France

Posterity alone rightly judges kings. Posterity alone has the right to accord or withhold honors.

— Napoleon I of France

Obedience to public authority ought not to be based either on ignorance or stupidity.

— Napoleon I of France

The laws of circumstance are abolished by new circumstances.

— Napoleon I of France

Some revolutions are inevitable. There are moral eruptions, just as the outbreak of volcanoes are physical eruptions. When the chemical combinations which produce them are complete, the volcanic eruptions burst forth, just as revolutions do when the moral factors are in the right state. In order to foresee them the trend of ideas must be understandingly observed.

— Napoleon I of France

One can lead a nation only by helping it see a bright outlook. A leader is a dealer in hope.

— Napoleon I of France

It is rare that a legislature reasons. It is too quickly impassioned.

— Napoleon I of France

Parties weaken themselves by their fear of capable men.

— Napoleon I of France

Democracy may become frenzied, but it has feelings and can be moved. As for aristocracy, it is always cold and never forgives.

— Napoleon I of France

We frustrate many designs against us by pretending not to see them.

— Napoleon I of France

To listen to the interests of all, marks an ordinary government; to foresee them, marks a great government.

— Napoleon I of France

Peace ought to be the result of a system well considered, founded on the true interests of the different countries, honorable to each, and ought not to be either a capitulation or the result of a threat.

— Napoleon I of France

A book in which there were no lies would be a curiosity.

— Napoleon I of France

All men of genius, and all those who have gained rank in the republic of letters, are brothers, whatever may be the land of their nativity.

— Napoleon I of France

It must be recognized that the real truths of history are hard to discover. Happily, for the most part, they are rather matters of curiosity than of real importance.

— Napoleon I of France

The division of labor, which has brought such perfection in mechanical industries, is altogether fatal when applied to productions of the mind. All work of the mind is superior in proportion as the mind that produces it is universal.

— Napoleon I of France

Laws which are consistent in theory often prove chaotic in practice.

— Napoleon I of France

In practical administration, experience is everything.

— Napoleon I of France

Aristocracy is the spirit of the Old Testament, democracy of the New.

— Napoleon I of France

The existence of God is attested by everything that appeals to our imagination. And if our eye cannot reach Him it is because He has not permitted our intelligence to go so far.

— Napoleon I of France

Jesus Christ was the greatest republican.

— Napoleon I of France

Charity and alms are recommended in every chapter of the Koran as being the most acceptable services, both to God and the Prophet.

— Napoleon I of France

The religious zeal which animates priests, leads them to undertake labors and to brave perils which would be far beyond the powers of one in secular employment.

— Napoleon I of France

Conscience is the most sacred thing among men. Every man has within him a still small voice, which tells him that nothing on earth can oblige him to believe that which he does not believe. The worst of all tyrannies is that which obliges eighteen-twentieths of a nation to embrace a religion contrary to their beliefs, under penalty of being denied their rights as citizens and of owning property, which, in effect, is the same thing as being without a country.

— Napoleon I of France

Fanaticism must be put to sleep before it can be eradicated.

— Napoleon I of France

Policemen and prisons ought never to be the means used to bring men back to the practice of religion.

— Napoleon I of France

You cannot drag a man's conscience before any tribunal, and no one is answerable for his religious opinions to any power on earth.

— Napoleon I of France

The populace judges of the power of God by the power of the priests.

— Napoleon I of France

I do not see in religion the mystery of the incarnation so much as the mystery of the social order. It introduces into the thought of heaven an idea of equalization, which saves the rich from being massacred by the poor.

— Napoleon I of France

Man loves the marvelous. It has an irresistible charm for him. He is always ready to leave that with which he is familiar to pursue vain inventions. He lends himself to his own deception.

— Napoleon I of France

Our credulity is a part of the imperfection of our natures. It is inherent in us to desire to generalize, when we ought, on the contrary, to guard ourselves very carefully from this tendency.

— Napoleon I of France

A general must be a charlatan.

— Napoleon I of France

Unhappy the general who comes on the field of battle with a system.

— Napoleon I of France

It is often in the audacity, in the steadfastness, of the general that the safety and the conservation of his men is found.

— Napoleon I of France

The military principles of Caesar were those of Hannibal, and those of Hannibal were those of Alexander — to hold his forces in hand, not to be vulnerable at any point, to throw all his forces with rapidity on any given point.

— Napoleon I of France

An army which cannot be reenforced is already defeated.

— Napoleon I of France

A commander in chief ought to say to himself several times a day: If the enemy should appear on my front, on my right, on my left, what would I do? And if the question finds him uncertain, he is not well placed, he is not as he should be, and he should remedy it.

— Napoleon I of France

The moment of greatest peril is the moment of victory.

— Napoleon I of France

Changing from the defensive to the offensive, is one of the most delicate operations in war.

— Napoleon I of France

An army ought to be ready every moment to offer all the resistance of which it is capable.

— Napoleon I of France

Never march by flank in front of an army in position. This principle is absolute.

— Napoleon I of France

In a battle, as in a siege, the art consists in concentrating very heavy fire on a particular point. The line of battle once established, the one who has the ability to concentrate an unlooked for mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on one of these points is sure to carry the day.

— Napoleon I of France

There is a joy in danger.

— Napoleon I of France

War is a serious game in which a man risks his reputation, his troops, and his country. A sensible man will search himself to know whether or not he is fitted for the trade.

— Napoleon I of France

There is only one favorable moment in war; talent consists in knowing how to seize it.

— Napoleon I of France

He who cannot look over a battlefield with a dry eye, causes the death of many men uselessly.

— Napoleon I of France

In war, theory is all right so far as general principles are concerned; but in reducing general principles to practice there will always be danger. Theory and practice are the axis about which the sphere of accomplishment revolves.

— Napoleon I of France

The secret of great battles consists in knowing how to deploy and concentrate at the right time.

— Napoleon I of France

The art of war consists in being always able, even with an inferior army, to have stronger forces than the enemy at the point of attack or the point which is attacked.

— Napoleon I of France

The praises of enemies are always to be suspected. A man of honor will not permit himself to be flattered by them, except when they are given after the cessation of hostilities.

— Napoleon I of France

The most desirable quality in a soldier is constancy in the support of fatigue; valor is only secondary.

— Napoleon I of France

Policy and morals concur in repressing pillage.

— Napoleon I of France

Gentleness, good treatment, honor the victor and dishonor the vanquished, who should remain aloof and owe nothing to pity — In war, audacity is the finest calculation of genius.

— Napoleon I of France

In civil war it is not given to every man to know how to conduct himself. There is something more than military prudence necessary; there is need of sagacity and the knowledge of men.

— Napoleon I of France

Nothing is so contrary to military rules as to make the strength of your army known, either in the orders of the day, in proclamations, or in the newspapers.

— Napoleon I of France

War is a lottery in which nations ought to risk nothing but small amounts.

— Napoleon I of France

Achilles was the son of a goddess and of a mortal; in that, he is the image of the genius of war. The divine part is all that that is derived from moral considerations of character, talent, the interest of your adversary, of opinion, of the temper of the soldier, which is strong and victorious, or feeble and beaten, according as he believes this divine part to be. The mortal part is the arms, the fortifications, the order of battle — everything which arises out of material things.

— Napoleon I of France

Courage cannot be counterfeited. It is one virtue that escapes hypocrisy.

— Napoleon I of France

In war one must lean on an obstacle in order to overcome it.

— Napoleon I of France

In war, character and opinion make more than half of the reality.

— Napoleon I of France

That dependable courage, which in spite of the most sudden circumstances, nevertheless allows freedom of mind, of judgment and of decision, is exceedingly rare.

— Napoleon I of France

It is not that addresses at the opening of a battle make the soldiers brave. The old veterans scarcely hear them, and recruits forget them at the first boom of the cannon. Their usefulness lies in their effect on the course of the campaign, in neutralizing rumors and false reports, in maintaining a good spirit in the camp, and in furnishing matter for camp-fire talk. The printed order of the day should fulfill these different ends.

— Napoleon I of France

What are the conditions that make for the superiority of an army? Its internal organization, military habits in officers and men, the confidence of each in themselves; that is to say, bravery, patience, and all that is contained in the idea of moral means.

— Napoleon I of France

The issue of a battle is the result of an instant, of a thought. There is the advance, with its various combinations, the battle is joined, the struggle goes on a certain time, the decisive moment presents itself, a spark of genius discloses it, and the smallest body of reserves accomplish victory.

— Napoleon I of France

In war, groping tactics, half-way measures, lose everything.

— Napoleon I of France

A man who has no consideration for the needs of his men ought never to be given command.

— Napoleon I of France

To plan to reserve cavalry for the finish of the battle, is to have no conception of the power of combined infantry and cavalry charges, either for attack or for defense.

— Napoleon I of France

The general of the sea has need of only one science, that of navigation. The one on land has need of all, or of a talent which is the equivalent of all, that will enable him to profit by all experience, and all knowledge. A general of the sea has nothing to divine. He knows where his enemy is, he knows his strength. A general on land never knows anything with certainty, never sees his enemy well, and never knows positively where he is.

— Napoleon I of France

In order not to be astonished at obtaining victories, one ought not to think only of defeats.

— Napoleon I of France

In war, luck is half in everything.

— Napoleon I of France

My most splendid campaign was that of March 20; not a single shot was fired.

— Napoleon I of France

In France, only the impossible is admired.

— Napoleon I of France

The sentiment of national honor is never more than half extinguished in the French. It takes only a spark to re-kindle it.

— Napoleon I of France

France will always be a great nation.

— Napoleon I of France

Turks can be killed, but they can never be conquered.

— Napoleon I of France

If you give me an army of Turks, I can take the whole world hostage.

— Napoleon I of France

Europe is a molehill. It has never had any great empires, like those of the Orient, numbering six hundred million souls.

— Napoleon I of France

Each state claims the right to control interests foreign to itself when those interests are such that it can control them without putting its own interests in danger. … other powers only recognize this right of intervening in proportion as the country doing it has the power to do it.

— Napoleon I of France