Quotes by Emperor of the French Napoleon I

“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.”

“History is a set of lies agreed upon.”

“Imagination governs the world.”

“If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.”

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.”

“History is written by the winners.”

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”

“Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.”

“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.”

“Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.”

“This soldier, I realized, must have had friends at home and in his regiment; yet he lay there deserted by all except his dog. I looked on, unmoved, at battles which decided the future of nations. Tearless, I had given orders which brought death to thousands. Yet here I was stirred, profoundly stirred, stirred to tears. And by what? By the grief of one dog.”

“A woman laughing is a woman conquered.”

“The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.”

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

“You don't reason with intellectuals. You shoot them.”

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

“There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind.”

“Conquests will come and go but Delambre's work will endure.”

“The world suffers a lot. Not because the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of the good people.”

“The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment.”

“He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.”

“China is a sleeping giant; let him sleep, for if he wakes, he will shake the World.”

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

“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

“Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.”

“Victory belongs to the most persevering.”

“The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.”

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

“I saw the crown of France lying on the ground, so I picked it up with my sword.”

“Ability is nothing without opportunity.”

“Impossible is the word found only in a fool's dictionary. Wise people create opportunities for themselves and make everything possible.”

“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.”

“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.”

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

“An army marches on its stomach.”

“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.”

“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.”

“There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.”

“Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.”

“A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.”

“The human race is governed by its imagination.”

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

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

“The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.”

“When you set out to take Vienna, take Vienna.”

“Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.”

“Let the path be open to talent.”

“A Constitution should be short and obscure.”

“Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.”

“The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.”

“In war, three-quarters turns on personal character and relations; the balance of manpower and materials counts only for the remaining quarter.”

“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.”

“Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night.”

“I base my calculation on the expectation that luck will be against me.”

“What is history but a fable agreed upon?”

“The word impossible is not in my dictionary.”

“A true man hates no one.”

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

“The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.”

“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.”

“Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.”

“The most dangerous moment comes with victory.”

“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.”

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

“It requires more courage to suffer than to die.”

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

“A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.”

“The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.”

“The fool has one great advantage over a man of sense; he is always satisfied with himself.”

“I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.”

“Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.”

“A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.”

“Imagination rules the world.”

“The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.”

“Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.”

“The French complain of everything, and always.”

“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 best cure for the body is a quiet mind.”

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

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

“Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.”

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

“All religions have been made by men.”

“Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can fly.”

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

“The art of governing consists in not letting men grow old in their jobs.”

“There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.”

“An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.”

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

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

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

“Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.”

“I have only one counsel for you - be master.”

“The policies of all powers are inherent in their geography.”

“War is ninety percent information.”

“A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.”

“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.”

“I made all my generals out of mud.”

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

“The people must not be allowed to find out that they have sufficient power to overturn the state.”

“Respect the burden.”

“Conscience is the dog that can't bite, but never stops barking.”

“In war, moral considerations account for three-quarters, the balance of actual forces only for the other quarter.”

“An army's effectiveness depends on its size, training, experience, and morale, and morale is worth more than any of the other factors combined.”

“The only way to lead people is to show them a future: a leader is a dealer in hope.”

“Men are ruled by toys.”

“Women are nothing but machines for producing children.”

“The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances.”

“I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay hands on everything they can get.”

“A man cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it.”

“The best orator is one who can make men see with their ears.”

“I start out by believing the worst.”

“Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.”

“It is not set speeches at the moment of battle that render soldiers brave.”

“Men of genius are meteors intended to burn to light their century.”

“From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.”

“The art of being sometimes audacious and sometimes very prudent is the secret of success.”

“What I have done up to this is nothing. I am only at the beginning of the course I must run.”

“With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything.”

“Medicines are only fit for old people.”

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

“I closed the gulf of anarchy and brought order out of chaos.”

“The amateurs discuss tactics: the professionals discuss logistics.”

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

“The stupid speak of the past, the wise of the present, and fools of the future.”

“Public morals are the natural complement of all laws: they are by themselves an entire code.”

“I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest.”

“My business is to succeed, and I'm good at it.”

“Secrets travel fast in Paris.”

“Envy is a declaration of inferiority.”

“I generally had to give in.”

“Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.”

“I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man.”

“In a battle, as in a siege, skill consists in converging a mass of fire on a single point.”

“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.”

“Luck is a word devoid of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.”

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

“I shall go down to posterity with my code in my hand.”

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

“Vengeance has no foresight.”

“War is the business of barbarians.”

“The secret of great battles consists in knowing how to deploy and concentrate at the right time.”

“The superior man is never in anyone's way.”

“England is a nation of shopkeepers.”

“It is not necessary to bury the truth. It is sufficient merely to delay it until nobody cares.”

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

“The word impossible is not French.”

“Speeches pass away, but acts remain.”

“I know, when it is necessary, how to leave the skin of the lion to take one of the fox.”

“Ordinarily men exercise their memory much more than their judgment.”

“The art of war consists in always having more forces than the adversary, even with an army inferior in numbers.”

“There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter.”

“I would rather have a general who was lucky than one who was good.”

“Put your iron hand in a velvet glove.”

“Adversity is the midwife of genius.”

“If you build an army of 100 lions and their leader is a dog, in any fight, the lions will die like a dog. But if you build an army of 100 dogs and their leader is a lion, all dogs will fight like a lion.”

“Strategy is the art of making use of time and space. I am less concerned about the later than the former. Space we can recover, lost time never.”

“Justice is the means by which established injustices are sanctioned.”

“It is the success which makes great men.”