Napoleon I of France Quotes

221 Sourced Quotes

Policemen and prisons ought never to be the means used to bring men back to the practice of religion.

Napoleon I of France
The religious zeal which animates priests, leads them to undertake labors and to brave perils which would be far beyond the powers of one in secular employment.

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

Napoleon I of France
To plan to reserve cavalry for the finish of the battle, is to have no conception of the power of combined infantry and cavalry charges, either for attack or for defense.

Napoleon I of France
The Turks can be killed, but they can never be conquered.

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

Napoleon I of France
In practical administration, experience is everything.

Napoleon I of France
I may have had many projects, but I never was free to carry out any of them. It did me little good to be holding the helm; no matter how strong my hands, the sudden and numerous waves were stronger still, and I was wise enough to yield to them rather than resist them obstinately and make the ship founder. Thus I never was truly my own master but was always ruled by circumstances.

Napoleon I of France
There are only two forces that unite men — fear and interest. All great revolutions originate in fear, for the play of interests does not lead to accomplishment.

Napoleon I of France
A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.

Napoleon I of France
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?

Napoleon I of France
An army ought to be ready every moment to offer all the resistance of which it is capable.

Napoleon I of France
Peace ought to be the result of a system well considered, founded on the true interests of the different countries, honorable to each, and ought not to be either a capitulation or the result of a threat.

Napoleon I of France
Hereditary succession to the magistracy is absurd, as it tends to make a property of it; it is incompatible with the sovereignty of the people.

Napoleon I of France
Think of it, soldiers; from the summit of these pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you.
Before the Battle of the Pyramids

Napoleon I of France
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

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

Napoleon I of France
It [the Channel] is a mere ditch, and will be crossed as soon as someone has the courage to attempt it.

Napoleon I of France
A Government protected by foreigners will never be accepted by a free people.

Napoleon I of France