251 quotes
The Princes of this house have abandoned their capital, not like soldiers of honour who cede to the circumstances and setbacks of the war, but like the perjured who are pursued by their own remorse.
The bed has become a place of luxury to me! I would not exchange it for all the thrones in the world.
I do not care to play the part of Monk; I will not play it myself, and I do not choose that others shall do so.
A Government protected by foreigners will never be accepted by a free people.
Political Aphorisms, Moral and Philosophical Thoughts (1848)
Democracy may become frenzied, but it has feelings and can be moved. As for aristocracy, it is always cold and never forgives.
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
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.
Said after Dupont's capitulation at w:Bailén to the Spanish (1808)
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 : In His Own Words (1916)
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.
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 : In His Own Words (1916)
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.
Where do you think you are going? Can’t you see that the battle is won? Come on, stand firm!
Give me a man with a good allowance of nose,… when I want any good head-work done I choose a man—provided his education has been suitable—with a long nose.
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.
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
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 : In His Own Words (1916)
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?
Never march by flank in front of an army in position. This principle is absolute.
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
Europe is a molehill. It has never had any great empires, like those of the Orient, numbering six hundred million souls.
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
The sentiment of national honor is never more than half extinguished in the French. It takes only a spark to re-kindle it.
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
Courage cannot be counterfeited. It is one virtue that escapes hypocrisy.
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
I am the signet which marks the page where the revolution has been stopped; but when I die it will turn the page and resume its course.