Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes

You can do anything with bayonets except sit on them

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

Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

It is not enough to give orders they must be obeyed.

Where the Government is weak, military sway prevails.

In revolution there are only two sorts of men, those who cause them and those who profit by them.

The implements to him who can handle them.

To attach no importance to public opinion, is a proof that you do not merit its suffrage.

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

I have destroyed the enemy merely by marches.

History is a myth that men agree to believe.

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

Six hours' sleep for a man, seven for a woman, and eight for a fool.

Terrorism, War & Bankruptcy are caused by the privatization of money, issued as a debt and compounded by interest.

A book in which there were no lies would be a curiosity.

War is a lottery in which nations ought to risk nothing but small amounts.

Never lose sight of this maxim, that you should establish your cantonments at the most distant and best protected point from the enemy, especially where a surprise is possible. By this means you will have time to unite all your forces before he can attack you.

Do you know what amazes me more than anything else? The impotence of force to organize anything.

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.

Occupation is the scythe of time.

The human race is governed by its imagination.

Liberty and equality are magical words.

Send me 300 francs; that sum will enable me to go to Paris. There, at least, one can cut a figure and surmount obstacles. Everything tells me I shall succeed. Will you prevent me from doing so for the want of 100 crowns?

To listen to the interests of all marks an ordinary government; to foresee them marks a great government.

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

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

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

France always has plenty men of talent, but it is always deficient in men of action and high character.

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

Brave deeds are the monuments of brave men.

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.

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

To understand the man you have to know what was happening in the world when he was twenty.

I drink Champagne when I win, to celebrate...and I drink Champagne when I lose, to console myself.

I see only my objective - the obstacles must give way.

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

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

Speeches pass away, but acts remain.

The art of land warfare is an art of genius, of inspiration. On the sea nothing is genius or inspiration; everything is positive or empiric.

In war, as in prostitution, amateurs are often better than professionals.

The unwilling soldier will do anything to fight for a useless fabric piece of ribbon.

Envy is a declaration of inferiority.

A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.

My business is to succeed, and I’m good at it. I create my Iliad by my actions, create it day by day.

To negotiate is not to do as one likes.

What is a throne? - a bit of wood gilded and covered in velvet. I am the state- I alone am here the representative of the people. Even if I had done wrong you should not have reproached me in public - people wash their dirty linen at home. France has more need of me than I of France.

The most dangerous moment comes with victory.

Nothing is lost as long as courage remains

Imagination governs the world.

In politics nothing is immutable. Events carry within them an invincible power. The unwise destroy themselves in resistance. The skillful accept events, take strong hold of them and direct them.

The reason I beat the Austrians is, they did not known the value of five minutes

Over-preparation is the foe of inspiration.

Fanaticism must be put to sleep before it can be eradicated.

The secret of war lies in the communications.

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

Governments keep their promises only when they are forced, or when it is to their advantage to do so.

In war, character and opinion make more than half of the reality.

We frustrate many designs against us by pretending not to see them.

In a battle, as in a siege, the art consists in concentrating very heavy fire on a particular point. The line of battle once established, the one who has the ability to concentrate an unlooked for mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on one of these points is sure to carry the day.

History is the invention of historians.