Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the greatest military commanders and a risk-taking gambler.
He climbed rank quickly in the armed forces due to his familial connections and his uncanny military knowledge, which he gained through dedicated reading. He also was influenced by the writings of Voltaire and did not practice much in the way of religion.
One of the greatest military leaders in history and emperor of France, he conquered much of Europe. In the history of Europe and the world he is recorded as twice-emperor of France whose military endeavors and sheer personality dominated Europe in person for a decade, and in thought for a century.
(1769 – 1821)
– Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes –
A true man hates no one.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
There are only two forces that unite men – fear and interest.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
In politics… never retreat, never retract… never admit a mistake.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
History is a set of lies agreed upon.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
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.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Ability is nothing without opportunity.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
England is a nation of shopkeepers.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The human race is governed by its imagination.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
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.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
A leader is a dealer in hope.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one’s designs to one’s means.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
One must change one’s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
An army marches on its stomach.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
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.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
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.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
There are only two f
orces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
All religions have been made by men.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The French complain of everything, and always.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy’s ranks.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
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.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
France has more need of me than I have need of France.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
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.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
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 inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Medicines are only fit for old people.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
I have only one counsel for you – be master.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Women are nothing but machines for producing children.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
A man cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
Ambition never is in a greater hurry that I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
