Top 867 Quotes & Sayings by Napoleon Bonaparte - Page 10

A portion of the multitude must ever be coerced.

Ambition never is in a greater hurry that I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.

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

There is no class of people so hard to manage in a state, as those whose intentions are honest, but whose consciences are bewitched.

You do not get peace by shouting: Peace. Peace is a meaningless word; what we need is a glorious peace.

It is not enough to give orders they must be obeyed.

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.

Conscription is the vitality of a nation, the purification of its morality, and the real foundations of all its habits

The public spirit is in the hands of the man who knows how to make use of it.

The friendship of a great man is a favor of the gods.

A man like me troubles himself little about a million men.

War justifies everything.

Wine is inspiring and adds greatly to the joy of living.

Treaties are observed as long as they are in harmony with interests.

Men will risk their lives, even die for ribbons.

In these days the invention of printing, and the diffusion of knowledge, render historical calumnies a little less dangerous: truth will always prevail in the long run, but how slow its progress!

There are two merits that glorify a person: being courageous for a man and being virtuous for a woman. Besides these two, there is another merit that glorifies both man and woman: so much loving the homeland to an extent with being ready to sacrifice his/her life, if needed. Turks are such courageous and virtuous people. That is why you can kill a Turk but you can never defeat them.

I love a brave soldier who has undergone the baptism of fire.

You may ask me for anything you like except time.

A great Nation should have a fixed Government, so that the death of one man should not overturn it.

A man's palate can, in time, become accustomed to anything.

It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory

Great events ever depend but upon a single hair. The adroit man profits by everything, neglects nothing which can increase his chances; the less adroit, by sometimes disregarding a single chance, fails in everything.

Friendship is but a name. I love no one.

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.

When I give a minister an order, I leave it to him to find the means to carry it out.

The policies of all powers are inherent in their geography.

All becomes easy when we follow the current of opinion; it is the ruler of the world.

Where the Government is weak, military sway prevails.

The most insupportable of tyrannies is that of inferiors.

It is the success which makes great men.

Men are led by trifles.

The implements to him who can handle them.

You cannot treat with all the world at once.

The spectacle of a field of battle after the combat, is sufficient to inspire Princes with the love of peace, and the horror of war.

Do you know what amazes me more than anything else? The impotence of force to organize anything.

Neglect of duty does not cease, by repetition, to be neglect of duty.

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

I marvel that whereas the ambitious dreams of my self, Caesar, and Alexander should have vanished into thin air, a Judean peasant-Jesus-s hould be able to stretch His hands across the centuries and control the destinies of men and nations.

It is with artillery that war is made.

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

Every private in the French army carries a Field Marshall wand in his knapsack.

Order marches with weighty and measured strides. Disorder is always in a hurry.

If obedience is the result of the instinct of the masses, revolt is the result of their thought.

From first to last, Jesus is the same; always the same--majestic and simple, infinitely severe and infinitely gentle.

The Emperor died forsaken by all, on this horrible rock. (St. Helena) His death struggle was awful!

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.

Independence, like honor, is a rocky island, without a beach.

Go Sir, gallop and don't forget that the world was made in six days. You can ask me for anything but not time.

Morality has nothing to do with such a man as I am.

It is exceptional and difficult to find in one man all the qualities necessary for a great general.

God! How men of letters are stupid.

As for myself, I do not believe that such a person as Jesus Christ ever existed; but as the people are inclined to superstition, it is proper not to oppose them.

I have come to realise that men are not born to be free.

A magistrate is not a father; he must be just and severe. Only tyrants are fathers.

Sometimes a single battle decides everything and sometimes, too, the slightest circumstance decides the issue of a battle. There is a moment in every battle at which the least manoeuvre is decisive and gives superiority, as one drop of water causes overflow.

I hope before long to press you in my arms and shall shower on you a million burning kisses as under the Equator.

The process of quitting smoking doesn't end with the last cigarette. It's not quitting itself, the real key is staying quit

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.

For today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology. Where each worker may bloom secure from the pests of contradictory and confusing truths. Our Unification of Thought is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people. With one will. One resolve. One cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death. And we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!