Napoleon Bonaparte
73 quotes
Biography
Napoleon Bonaparte, later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was Emperor of the French from 18 May 1804 until his first abdication in 1814, with a brief restoration during the Hundred Days in 1815. He rose to prominence as a general during the French Revolution and led a series of military campaigns across Europe and the Middle East during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
"A leader is a dealer in hope."
"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."
"If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing."
"The truest wisdom is a resolute determination."
"Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in."
"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."
"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat."
"If you want a thing done well, do it yourself."
"The best cure for the body is a quiet mind."
"War is the business of barbarians."
"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue courage is only the second virtue."
"It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr."
"Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily."
"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."
"Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest."
"There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity."
"The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence and the great welcome them out of vanity or need."
"The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means."
"History is a set of lies agreed upon."
"The human race is governed by its imagination."
"Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals."