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

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

Courage is like love it must have hope for nourishment.

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

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

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

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

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

A leader is a dealer in hope.

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

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

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

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

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

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

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

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.

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.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Imagination rules the world.

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

War is the business of barbarians.

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

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

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

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

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

The human race is governed by its imagination.

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

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

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

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

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

Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.

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.

Respect the burden.

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

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.

Women are nothing but machines for producing children.

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

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

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

It requires more courage to suffer than to die.

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

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

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

Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.

The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.

All religions have been made by men.

What is history but a fable agreed upon?