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| Napoleon Bonaparte
A battle sometimes decides everything; and sometimes the most trifling thing decides the fate of a battle. A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view. A Constitution should be short and obscure.A leader is a dealer in hope. A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights. A man's palate can, in time, become accustomed to anything. A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything. A picture is worth a thousand words. A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories. A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon. A throne is only a bench covered with velvet. A true man hates no one. Ability has nothing to do with opportunity. Ability is of little account without opportunity. All religions have been made by men. Ambition never is in a greater hurry that I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking. Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress. An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood. Chance is the providence of adventurers. Circumstances!?! I make circumstances. Courage is like love, it must have hope for nourishment.Do you know what amazes me more than anything else? The impotence of force to organize anything. Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals. England is a nation of shopkeepers. Every private in the French army carries a marshall's baton in his knapsack. Every soldier carries a marshall's baton in his pack. Few things are brought to a sucessful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought. Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets. From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us. From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step. 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. Great people are meteors designed to burn so that the earth may be lighted. Greatness is nothing unless it is lasting. He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat. Here, Gentlemen, a dog teaches us a lesson in humanity. History is a set of lies agreed upon. History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon. 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. I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay their hands on everything they can get. I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets. I have only one counsel for you – be master. 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. I made all my generals out of mud. I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad soldiers; we will settle this matter by lunch time. If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god. If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon-shots. If you want a thing done well, do it yourself. If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing. Imagination rules the world. Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools. In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage. In politics ... never retreat, never retract ... never admit a mistake. In politics stupidity is not a handicap. In politics, absurdity is not a handicap. In politics, an absurdity is not a handicap. It is astonishing what power words have over a man. It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr. It requires more courage to suffer than to die.Let the path be open to talent. Medicine is a collection of uncertain prescriptions, the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind. Medicines are only fit for old people. Men are lead by trifles. Music of all the arts has the most influence on the passions and the legislator should give it the greatest encouragement. Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence. Never awake me when you have good news to announce, because with good news nothing presses; but when you have bad news, arouse me immediately, for then there is not an instant to be lost. Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide. One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority. Philosophers have no conception of religion as a popular force. If I had to make a religion for philosophers, it would be very different from what I would supply for the credulous. Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me. Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them. Secrets travel fast in Paris. Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy. Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in. Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent. The art of the police is not to see what it is useless that it should see. The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies. The best cure for the body is a quiet mind. The best way to keep one's word is not to give it. The destiny of the child is always the work of the mother. The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue. The French complain of everything, and always. The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means. The greatest general is he who makes the fewest mistakes. The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need. The human race is governed by its imagination. The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague. The most dangerous moment comes with victory. The most insupportable of tyrannies is that of inferiors. The only one who is wiser than anyone is everyone. 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. The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man. The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny. 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. There is no class of people so hard to manage in a state, as those whose intentions are honest, but whose consciences are bewitched. There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter. Tragedy warms the soul, elevates the heart, can and ought to create heroes. True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat. Truth alone wounds. Vanity made the [French] Revolution; liberty was only a pretext. Vengeance has no foresight. Water, air, and cleanliness are the chief articles in my pharmacy. Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy. We must laugh at man, to avoid crying for him. What is history but a fable agreed upon? When firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary. When I want any good head work done, if possible, I always choose a man with a long nose. When I want any, good head work done; I always choose a man, if possible with a long nose. When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity. When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battlefield, they have all one rank in my eyes. Who saves his country violates no law. Why and How are words so important that they cannot be too often used. With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything. You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks. You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your tricks of war. [Medicine is] a collection of uncertain prescriptions the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind. |
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