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

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

Imagination rules the world.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

A picture is worth a thousand words.

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

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

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

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

It requires more courage to suffer than to die.

The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.

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

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

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

A leader is a dealer in hope.

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

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

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

War is the business of barbarians.

All religions have been made by men.

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

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

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

Courage is like love it must have hope for nourishment.

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

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

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

The human race is governed by its imagination.

Respect the burden.

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

What is history but a fable agreed upon?

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

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

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.

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

Women are nothing but machines for producing children.