Napoleon I of France Quotes

221 Sourced Quotes

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 I of France
Some revolutions are inevitable. There are moral eruptions, just as the outbreak of volcanoes are physical eruptions. When the chemical combinations which produce them are complete, the volcanic eruptions burst forth, just as revolutions do when the moral factors are in the right state. In order to foresee them the trend of ideas must be understandingly observed.

Napoleon I of France
There is but a step from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Napoleon I of France
The most desirable quality in a soldier is constancy in the support of fatigue; valor is only secondary.

Napoleon I of France
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 I of France
The military principles of Caesar were those of Hannibal, and those of Hannibal were those of Alexander — to hold his forces in hand, not to be vulnerable at any point, to throw all his forces with rapidity on any given point.

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

Napoleon I of France
How many seemingly impossible things have been accomplished by resolute men because they had to do, or die.

Napoleon I of France
He who cannot look over a battlefield with a dry eye, causes the death of many men uselessly.

Napoleon I of France
We should not pass from the earth without leaving traces to carry our memory to posterity.

Napoleon I of France
The great difficulty with politics is, that there are no established principles.

Napoleon I of France
There are so many laws that no one is safe from hanging.

Napoleon I of France
Ordinarily men exercise their memory much more than their judgment.

Napoleon I of France
It is the business of cavalry to follow up the victory, and to prevent the beaten army from rallying.

Napoleon I of France
[Women] belong to the highest bidder. Power is what they like – it is the greatest of all aphrodisiacs.

Napoleon I of France
Unite for the public safety, if you would remain an independent nation.

Napoleon I of France
I do not see in religion the mystery of the incarnation so much as the mystery of the social order. It introduces into the thought of heaven an idea of equalization, which saves the rich from being massacred by the poor.

Napoleon I of France
The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.

Napoleon I of France
Unhappy the general who comes on the field of battle with a system.

Napoleon I of France
It is a mistake, too, to say that the face is the mirror of the soul. The truth is, men are very hard to know, and yet, not to be deceived, we must judge them by their present actions, but for the present only.

Napoleon I of France