Bonaparte's Quotes

#1. We believe no more in Bonaparte's fighting merely for the liberties of the seas than in Great Britain's fighting for the liberties of mankind. The object is the same, to draw to themselves the power, the wealth and the resources of other nations.

Thomas Jefferson

#2. Bonaparte's wish is Peace, nay that he is afraid of war to the last degree.

Charles James Fox

#3. The Princess Borghese, Bonaparte's sister, who was no saint, sat to Canova as a reclining Venus, and being asked if she did not feel a little uncomfortable, replied, "No. There was a fire in the room."

William Hazlitt

#4. There is not a power in Europe, no not even Bonaparte's that is so unlimited [as the British monarchy].

Charles James Fox

#5. Every French soldier carriers a marshal's baton in his knapsack.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#6. France is invaded; I am leaving to take command of my troops, and, with God's help and their valor, I hope soon to drive the enemy beyond the frontier.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#7. Machiavelli is right: one always must live with one's friends with the idea that they may turn into one's enemies. He should have said, with everyone.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#8. It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory

Napoleon Bonaparte

#9. You cannot drag a man's conscience before any tribunal, and no one is answerable for his religious opinions to any power on earth.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#10. Love is the idler's occupation, the warrior's relaxation, and the sovereign's ruination.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#11. Unity of command is essential to the economy of time. Warfare in the field was like a siege: by directing all one's force to a single point a breach might be made, and the equilibrium of opposition destroyed.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#12. I have never loved anyone for love's sake except, perhaps, Josephine - a little.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#13. If you know a country's geography, you can understand and predict its foreign policy.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#14. Man will believe anything, as long as it's not in the bible.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#15. Man is entitled by birthright to a share of the earth's produce sufficient to fill the needs of his existence.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#16. The process of quitting smoking doesn't end with the last cigarette. It's not quitting itself, the real key is staying quit

Napoleon Bonaparte

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

Napoleon Bonaparte

#18. To have a right estimate of a man's character, we must see him in misfortune.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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

Napoleon Bonaparte

#20. God has given me the will and the force to overcome all obstacles.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#21. It is not set speeches at the moment of battle that render soldiers brave.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#22. Democracy may become frenzied, but it has feelings and can be moved. As for aristocracy, it is always cold and never forgives.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#23. When a man is a favorite of Fortune she never takes him unawares, and, however astonishing her favors may be, she finds him ready.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#24. Medicine is a collection of uncertain prescriptions, the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#25. Nothing is more arrogant than the weakness which feels itself supported by power.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#26. Ordinary men died, men of iron were taken prisoner: I only brought back with me men of bronze.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#27. Everything is more or less organized matter. To think so is against religion, but I think so just the same.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#28. A man's palate can, in time, become accustomed to anything.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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

Napoleon Bonaparte

#30. The nature of Christ's existence is mysterious, I admit; but this mystery meets the wants of man. Reject it, and the world is an inexplicable riddle; believe it, and the history of our race is satisfactorily explained.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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

Napoleon Bonaparte

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

Napoleon Bonaparte

#33. There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#34. Napoleon would always be extremely fastidious when it came to other people's morals, although his own were frequently questionable.

Leslie Carroll

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

Napoleon Bonaparte

#36. I know he's a good general, but is he lucky?

Napoleon Bonaparte

#37. It's not the size of the army but the power within the army.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#38. It's a wonder, given your prowess with these delicious women, that there aren't dozens of little Bonapartes running around. Tell me, how do you account for that?

Carolly Erickson

#39. Which is heavier: a soldier's pack or a slave's chains?

Napoleon Bonaparte

#40. It's the people who are in the wrong who get angry.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#41. I think one of the few times I've been involved with real-life characters was the story of Marie Bonaparte. I think it's really difficult to become someone that really existed.

Catherine Deneuve

#42. Timid and cowardly soldiers cause the loss of a nation's independence; but pusillanimous magistrates destroy the empire of the laws, the rights of the throne, and even social order itself.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#43. There are in Europe many good generals, but they see too many things at once. I see one thing, namely the enemy's main body. I try to crush it, confident that secondary matters will then settle themselves.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#44. You write to me that it's impossible. The word is not French.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#45. The superior man is never in anyone's way.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#46. Mankind's worst enemy is fear of work

Napoleon Bonaparte

#47. Even when I am gone, I shall remain in people's minds the star of their rights, my name will be the war cry of their efforts, the motto of their hopes.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#48. I marvel that whereas the ambitious dreams of my self, Caesar, and Alexander should have vanished into thin air, a Judean peasant-Jesus-s hould be able to stretch His hands across the centuries and control the destinies of men and nations.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#49. I am a monarch of God's creation, and you reptiles of the earth dare not oppose me. I render an account of my government to none save God and Jesus Christ.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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

Napoleon Bonaparte

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

Napoleon Bonaparte

#52. Oh well, no matter what happens, there's always death.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#53. The leader's role is to define reality, then give hope

Napoleon Bonaparte

#54. Once you have made up your mind, stick to it; there is no longer any 'if' or 'but'.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#55. Conscription is the vitality of a nation, the purification of its morality, and the real foundations of all its habits

Napoleon Bonaparte

#56. 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 as a lion

Napoleon Bonaparte

#57. True character stands the test of emergencies. Do not be mistaken, it is weakness from which the awakening is rude.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#58. My success and everything good that I have done, I owe to my mother.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#59. A man is not dependent upon his fellow creature, when he does not fear death.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#60. The monster has escaped Elba!" "The tyrant has landed at Cannes!" "Bonaparte meets the troops." "Napoleon approaches Paris." "His Imperial Majesty has entered the capital.

David Frum

#61. War must be made as intense and awful as possible in order to make it short, and thus to diminish its horrors.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#62. The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon is the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of peace in Europe, he, faithful to his oath, declares that he is ready to descend from the throne, to quit France, and even to relinquish life, for the good of his country.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#63. While I live I will never resort to irredeemable paper.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#64. Pure politics is merely the calculus of combinations and of chances.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#65. An army of lions commanded by a deer will never be an army of lions.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#66. Conquests will come and go but Delambre's work will endure.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#67. Nothing is so important in war as an undivided command.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#68. History is a myth that men agree to believe.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#69. Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#70. Obedience to public authority ought not to be based either on ignorance or stupidity.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#71. Our hour is marked, and no one can claim a moment of life beyond what fate has predestined.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#72. Without cavalry, battles are without result.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#73. A king is sometimes obliged to commit crimes; but they are the crimes of his position.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#74. 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

#75. Men are led by trifles.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#76. History paints the human heart.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#77. I may lose a battle but I will never lose a minute.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#78. War is ninety percent information.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#79. If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering an undertaking, I have meditated long and have foreseen what might occur. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in circumstances unexpected by others; it is thought and preparation

Napoleon Bonaparte

#80. In war, as in love, we must come into contact before we triumph.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#81. Chess is too difficult to be a game and not serious enough to be a science or an art.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#82. It is not by whining that one carries out the job of king.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#83. The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#84. My mind is a chest of drawers. When I wish to deal with a subject, I shut all the drawers but the one in which the subject is to be found. When I am wearied, I shut all the drawers and go to sleep.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#85. The great art of governing consists in not letting men grow old in their jobs.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#86. That man made me miss my destiny.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#87. I should see an enemy of my country in any one who would change by force that which has been established by law.

Louis Bonaparte

#88. A cowardly act! What do I care about that? You may be sure that I should never fear to commit one if it were to my advantage.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#89. With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#90. You cannot treat with all the world at once.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#91. Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#92. It is an ambassador's duty to stand up for his nation's foreign policy in any era and under any government whatsoever. Ambassadors are, in the full meaning of the term, titled spies.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#93. He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#94. What are the conditions that make for the superiority of an army? Its internal organization, military habits in officers and men, the confidence of each in themselves; that is to say, bravery, patience, and all that is contained in the idea of moral means.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#95. The policies of all powers are inherent in their geography.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#96. The only true conquests-those that awaken no regrets- are those obtained over our ignorance.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#97. A constitution should be framed so as not to impede the action of government, nor force the government to its violation.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#98. Men who have changed the world never achieved their success by winning the chief citizens to their side, but always by stirring the masses.

Napoleon Bonaparte

#99. A well-composed song strikes the mind and softens the feelings, and produces a greater effect than a moral work, which convinces our reason, but does not warm our feelings, nor effect the slightest alteration in our habits

Napoleon Bonaparte

#100. In a conquered country benevolence is not humanitarianism. It is a general political axiom that a conqueror must not inspire a good opinion of his benevolence until he has demonstrated that he can be severe with malefactors.

Napoleon Bonaparte