You are here: Home > Literature > Napoleon Bonaparte
Quotes of Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I (born Napoleone Buonaparte, later Napoléon Bonaparte [1]; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic, and Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français). He was also King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine.Born in Corsica and trained in mainland France as an artillery officer, he first rose to prominence as a general of the French Revolution, leading several successful campaigns against the First Coalition and the Second Coalition of neighboring powers opposed to the Revolution. In late 1799, Napoleon staged a coup d'état to install himself as First Consul of France; five years later he crowned himself Emperor. Meanwhile, during the first decade of the nineteenth century the armies of France under his command fought almost every major European power, and gained control of most of continental Europe either by force of arms - through battlefield victories such as Austerlitz and Friedland - or by alliance systems. He went on to appoint several members of his family and close friends as monarchs and important government figures of French-dominated states. A disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 marked a turning point in Napoleon's fortunes. The campaign left his Grande Armée severely depleted in number and it never regained its previous strength. In October 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at Leipzig and then invaded France. Napoleon was forced to abdicate in April of the following year and was exiled to the island of Elba. Less than a year later, he escaped to France and regained control of the government. This second period of Napoleonic rule, now known as the Hundred Days (les Cent Jours), ended quickly with his defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Napoleon spent the remaining six years of his life under British supervision on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.
- 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 cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it.
- A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
- 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 revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
- 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 is nothing 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 army marches on its stomach.
- Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.
- Courage is like love; it must have hope to nourish it.
- Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
- Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
- England is a nation of shopkeepers.
- Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.
- Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
- France has more need of me than I have need of France.
- From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.
- Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
- 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.
- He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
- He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
- 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 the successor, not of Louis XVI, but of Charlemagne.
- I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.
- 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.
- If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering an undertaking, I have meditated long and have foreseen what might occur. It is not genius where reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in circumstances unexpected by others; it is thought and preparation.
- 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 to be found only 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 stupidity is not a handicap.
- In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.
- It is the cause and not the death that makes the martyr.
- 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.
- Medicines are only fit for old people.
- Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
- Men are Moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
- Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.
- Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.
- Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
- 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.
- One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.
- 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 excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
- Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
- Religion is what keeps the poor man from murdering the rich.
- Respect the burden.
- Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.
- Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
- Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.
- 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 act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.
- The army is the true nobility of our country.
- 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 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 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 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 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 strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
- The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.
- The surest way to remain poor is to be honest.
- The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.
- The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.
- The word impossible is not in my dictionary.
- 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 are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.
- There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.
- There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.
- There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
- Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night.
- 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.
- Victory belongs to the most persevering.
- War is the business of barbarians.
- 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 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 battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.
- With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything.
- Women are nothing but machines for producing children.
- 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 art of war.