Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes & Sayings

Neglect of duty does not cease, by repetition, to be neglect of duty. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The Jews are the master robbers of the modern age. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The first quality of a soldier is constancy in enduring fatigue and hardship. Courage is only the second. Poverty privation and want are the school of the good soldier. — Napoleon Bonaparte

To be believed make the truth unbelievable. — Napoleon Bonaparte

You become strong by defying defeat and by turning loss into gain and failure to success. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Oh well, no matter what happens, there's always death. — Napoleon Bonaparte

We live and die in the midst of marvels. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The greatest ornament of an illustrious life is modesty and humility, which go a great way in the character even of the most exalted princes. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg. — Napoleon Bonaparte

In the last analysis, one must be a military man in order to govern. It is only with boot and spurs that one can govern a horse. — Napoleon Bonaparte

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

I have seen in the most significant of circumstances, that some little thing always decides great events. — Napoleon Bonaparte

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

I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets — Napoleon Bonaparte

My waking thoughts are all of thee. Your portrait and the remembrance of last night's delirium have robbed my senses of repose. Sweet and incomparable Josephine, what an extraordinary influence you have over my heart. Are you vexed? Do I see you sad? Are you ill at ease? My soul is broken with grief, and there is no rest for your lover. — Napoleon Bonaparte

All generals, officers, and soldiers who capitulate in battle to save their own lives should be decimated. — Napoleon Bonaparte

We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Among so many conflicting ideas and so many different perspectives, the honest man is confused and distressed and the skeptic becomes wicked ... Since one must take sides, one might as well choose the side that is victorious, the side which devastates, loots, and burns. Considering the alternative, it is better to eat than to be eaten. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Why and how are words so important that they cannot be too often used. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Friends must always be treated as if one day they might be enemies. — Napoleon Bonaparte

In war, moral factors acount for three quarters of the whole; relative material strength accounts for only one quarter. — Napoleon Bonaparte

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

A great Nation should have a fixed Government, so that the death of one man should not overturn it. — Napoleon Bonaparte

A beautiful woman like eyes, and a good heart; One is a beautiful thing, and other treasures. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Human life is the only thing that takes care of itself. — Napoleon Bonaparte

A legislator must know how to take advantage of even the defects of those he wants to govern. The art consists in making others work rather than in wearing oneself out. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Men will risk their lives, even die for ribbons. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Lies circle the earth while Truth is still trying to put on its shoes. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The Bible is not merely a book-it is a living power ... Nowhere as in the Bible can be found such a series of beautiful ideas and admirable maxims which pose before us like the battalions of a celestial army ... The soul can never go astray while it has this book for its guide. — Napoleon Bonaparte

How many really capable men are children more than once during the day! — Napoleon Bonaparte

The best way to make every one poor is to insist on equality of wealth. — Napoleon Bonaparte

When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The most terrible of all my battles was the one before Moscow. The French showed themselves to be worthy of victory, but the Russians showed themselves worthy of being invincible. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Many a one commits a reprehensible action, who is at bottom an honourable man, because man seldom acts upon natural impulse, but from some secret passion of the moment which lies hidden and concealed within the narrowest folds of his heart. — Napoleon Bonaparte

I don't employ Talleyrand when I want a thing done, but only when I want to have the appearance of wanting to do it. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Revolutions are like the most noxious dungheaps, which bring into life the noblest vegetables. — Napoleon Bonaparte

It is cowardly to commit suicide. The English often kill themselves. It is a malady caused by the humid climate. — Napoleon Bonaparte

No one but myself can be blamed for my fall. I have been my own greatest enemy-the cause of my own disastrous fate. — Napoleon Bonaparte

A magistrate is not a father; he must be just and severe. Only tyrants are fathers. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The love of glory is like the bridge that Satan built across Chaos to pass from Hell to Paradise: glory links the past with the future across a bottomless abyss. Nothing to my son, except my name! — Napoleon Bonaparte

The Jesuits are a MILITARY organization, not a religious order. Their chief is a general of an army, not the mere father abbot of a monastery. And the aim of this organization is power - power in its most despotic exercise - absolute power, universal power, power to control the world by the volition of a single man. Jesuitism is the most absolute of despotisms - and at the same time the greatest and most enormous of abuses. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Age, habits of business and experience have modified many characters. — Napoleon Bonaparte

You cannot treat with all the world at once. — Napoleon Bonaparte

China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world. — Napoleon Bonaparte

With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The logical end to defensive warfare is surrender. — Napoleon Bonaparte

There is no strength without justice. — Napoleon Bonaparte

A King should sacrifice the best affections of his heart for the good of his country; no sacrifice should be above his determination. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Lack is more in means, than in principles. — Napoleon Bonaparte

I am for the whites because I am white; I have no other reason, and that one is good. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Respect the burden. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Great men are meteors designed to burn so that earth may be lighted. — Napoleon Bonaparte

To imagine that it is possible to perform great military deeds without fighting is just empty dreams. — Napoleon Bonaparte

War is ninety percent information. — Napoleon Bonaparte

It is an approved maxim in war, never to do what the enemy wishes you to do, for this reason alone, that he desires it. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Every private in the French army carries a Field Marshall wand in his knapsack. — Napoleon Bonaparte

You do not get peace by shouting: Peace. Peace is a meaningless word; what we need is a glorious peace. — Napoleon Bonaparte

When I give a minister an order, I leave it to him to find the means to carry it out. — Napoleon Bonaparte

It is the success which makes great men. — Napoleon Bonaparte

A general must be a charlatan. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Conquest has made me what I am, only conquest can maintain me. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Between a battle lost and a battle won, the distance is immense and there stand empires. — Napoleon Bonaparte

History is a myth that men agree to believe. — Napoleon Bonaparte

At the beginning of a campaign it is important to consider whether or not to move forward; but when one has taken the offensive it is necessary to maintain it to the last extremity. However skilfully effected a retreat may be, it always lessens the morale of an army, since in losing the chances of success, they are remitted to the enemy. A retreat, moreover, costs much more in men and materials than the bloodiest engagements, with this difference, also, that in a battle the enemy loses practically as much as you do; while in a retreat you lose and he does not. — Napoleon Bonaparte

In war, the general alone can judge of certain arrangements. It depends on him alone to conquer difficulties by his own superior talents and resolution. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The spectacle of a field of battle after the combat, is sufficient to inspire Princes with the love of peace, and the horror of war. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Muhammad was a great man, an intrepid soldier; with a handful of men he triumphed at the battle of Bender (sic); a great captain, eloquent, a great man of state, he revived his fatherland and created a new people and a new power in the middle of Arabia. — Napoleon Bonaparte

It is only by prudence, wisdom, and dexterity that great ends are attained and obstacles overcome. Without these qualities nothing succeeds. — Napoleon Bonaparte

You tell me that class distinctions are baubles used by monarchs, I defy you to show me a republic, ancient or modern, in which distinctions have not existed. You call these medals and ribbons baubles; well, it is with such baubles that men are led. I would not say this in public, but in a assembly of wise statesmen it should be said. I don't think that the French love liberty and equality: the French are not changed by ten years of revolution: they are what the Gauls were, fierce and fickle. They have one feeling: honour. We must nourish that feeling. The people clamour for distinction. See how the crowd is awed by the medals and orders worn by foreign diplomats. We must recreate these distinctions. There has been too much tearing down; we must rebuild. A government exists, yes and power, but the nation itself - what is it? Scattered grains of sand. — Napoleon Bonaparte

If you want to get on in this world make many promises, but don't keep them. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Moses has revealed the existence of God to his nation. Jesus Christ to the Roman world, Muhammad to the old continent ... — Napoleon Bonaparte

True heroism consists in rising superior to misfortune. — Napoleon Bonaparte

My success and everything good that I have done, I owe to my mother. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The best cure for the body is a quiet mind — Napoleon Bonaparte

In Russia there are no roads - only areas. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Give me enough medals and I'll win you any war — Napoleon Bonaparte

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

When I want any, good head work done; I always choose a man, if possible with a long nose. — Napoleon Bonaparte

In war one must lean on an obstacle in order to overcome it. — Napoleon Bonaparte

There is no Nation however small which had the right to set itself free, that has not rescued itself from the dishonour of obeying the Prince imposed by an enemy in the hour of victory. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night. — Napoleon Bonaparte

He, who practices right, but in the hope of acquiring great renown, is very near to vice. — Napoleon Bonaparte

I know he's a good general, but is he lucky? — Napoleon Bonaparte

The implements to him who can handle them. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Every beggar shall be arrested. But to arrest a beggar merely in order to put him in jail would be barbarous and absurd. He should be arrested for the sole purpose of teaching him how to earn a living by his work. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Champagne! In victory, one deserves it; in defeat one needs it. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Among mountains there are everywhere numerous positions extremely strong by nature, which you should abstain from attacking. The genius of this kind of war consists in occupying camps either on the flank or the rear of the enemy, So as to leave him no alternative but to withdraw from his position without fighting; and to move him farther back, or to make him come out and attack you. In mountain war the attacking party acts under a disadvantage. Even in offensive war, the merit lies in having only defensive conflicts and obliging your enemy to become the assailant. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The sovereignty of the people is inalienable. — Napoleon Bonaparte

It is my wish that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I have loved so well. — Napoleon Bonaparte

There is a joy in danger. — Napoleon Bonaparte

When you have resolved to fight a battle, collect your whole force. Dispense with nothing. A single battalion sometimes decides the day. — Napoleon Bonaparte

It is exceptional and difficult to find in one man all the qualities necessary for a great general. — Napoleon Bonaparte

A man occupied with public or other important business cannot, and need not, attend to spelling. — Napoleon Bonaparte

As to moral courage, I have very rarely met with the two o'clock in the morning kind. I mean unprepared courage, that which is necessary on an unexpected occasion, and which, in spite of the most unforeseen events, leaves full freedom of judgement and decision. — 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

In a great nation, the majority are incapable of judging wisely of things. — Napoleon Bonaparte

The leader's role is to define reality, then give hope — Napoleon Bonaparte

I know men, and I tell you, Jesus is more than a man. Comparison is impossible between Him and any other human being who ever lived, because He was the Son of God. — Napoleon Bonaparte