Quotes & anectdotes from
the wise,
the foolish,
the courageous &
the drunk

Napoleon Bonaparte Military Officer

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: France
  • Born: Aug 15, 1769
  • Died: May 5, 1821

If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.

Courage is like love it must have hope for nourishment.

If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.

You must not fear death, my lads defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks.

It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.

He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means.

The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.

War is the business of barbarians.

The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.

Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.

Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

What is history but a fable agreed upon?

In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.

The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.

There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.

One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.

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.

Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.

All religions have been made by men.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.

It requires more courage to suffer than to die.

Imagination rules the world.

Women are nothing but machines for producing children.

Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.

If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue courage is only the second virtue.

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

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.

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.

The human race is governed by its imagination.

There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.

History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.

When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

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.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.

Respect the burden.