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A Cowardly Act! What Do I Care About That? You May Be Sure That I Should Never Fear To Commit One If It Were To My Advantage.

-Napoleon Bonaparte

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A Cowardly Act! What

Napoleon Bonaparte

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A Cowardly Act! What Do I Care About That? You May Be Sure That I Should Never Fear To Commit One If It Were To My Advantage.

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A Man's Palate Can, In Time, Become Accustomed To Anything.

In Politics Nothing Is Immutable. Events Carry Within Them An Invincible Power.

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.

A People Which Is Able To Say Everything Becomes Able To Do Everything.

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.

A Constitution Should Be Framed So As Not To Impede The Action Of Government, Nor Force The Government To Its Violation.

I Engage And After That I See What To Do.

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I Closed The Gulf Of Anarchy And Brought Order Out Of Chaos. I Rewarded Merit Regardless Of Birth Or Wealth, Wherever I Found It. I Abolished Feudalism And Restored Equality To All Regardless Of Religion And Before The Law. I Fought The Decrepit Monarchies Of The Old Regime Because The Alternative Was The Destruction Of All This. I Purified The Revolution.

An Army's Effectiveness Depends On Its Size, Training, Experience, And Morale, And Morale Is Worth More Than Any Of The Other Factors Combined.

To Live, Is To Suffer; And The Honest Man Is Always Fighting To Be Master Of His Own Mind.

Music Is The Voice That Tells Us That The Human Race Is Greater Than It Knows.

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.

God Has Given Me The Will And The Force To Overcome All Obstacles.

A Celebrated People Lose Dignity Upon A Closer View.

Speeches Pass Away, But Acts Remain.

France Is Invaded; I Am Leaving To Take Command Of My Troops, And, With God's Help And Their Valor, I Hope Soon To Drive The Enemy Beyond The Frontier.

Give Me Enough Medals And I’ll Win You Any War

I Pay Attention Only To What People Do Or Say. I Never Pay Attention To What They Think.

All Generals, Officers, And Soldiers Who Capitulate In Battle To Save Their Own Lives Should Be Decimated.

The Future Destiny Of A Child Is Always The Work Of The Mother

In Politics... Never Retreat, Never Retract... Never Admit A Mistake.

A Battle Sometimes Decides Everything; And Sometimes The Most Trifling Thing Decides The Fate Of A Battle.

You Don't Reason With Intellectuals. You Shoot Them.

Parties Weaken Themselves By Their Fear Of Capable Men.

Wherever Flowers Cannot Be Reared, There Man Cannot Live.

When I Want Any, Good Head Work Done; I Always Choose A Man, If Possible With A Long Nose.

If You (to General Bertrand) Do Not Perceive That Jesus Christ Is God, Very Well; Then I Did Wrong To Make You A General.

Religion Is, In Fact, The Dominion Of The Soul; It Is The Hope, The Anchor Of Safety, The Deliverance From Evil. What A Service Has Christianity Rendered To Humanity!

The Greatest Danger Occurs At The Moment Of Victory

A Mathematician Of The First Rank, Laplace Quickly Revealed Himself As Only A Mediocre Administrator; From His First Work We Saw That We Had Been Deceived. Laplace Saw No Question From Its True Point Of View; He Sought Subtleties Everywhere; Had Only Doubtful Ideas, And Finally Carried The Spirit Of The Infinitely Small Into Administration.

A Man Occupied With Public Or Other Important Business Cannot, And Need Not, Attend To Spelling.

Reprisals Are But A Sad Resource.

Religions Are All Founded On Miracles - On Things We Cannot Understand, Such As The Trinity. Jesus Calls Himself The Son Of God, And Yet Is Descended From David. I Prefer The Religion Of Mahomet - It Is Less Ridiculous Than Ours.

I Can No Longer Obey; I Have Tasted Command, And I Cannot Give It Up.

I Have So Often Been Mistaken That I No Longer Blush For It

My Generals Are A Parcel Of Post Inspectors.

I Have Never Loved Anyone For Love's Sake Except, Perhaps, Josephine - A Little.

You Do Not Get Peace By Shouting: Peace. Peace Is A Meaningless Word; What We Need Is A Glorious Peace.

Public Morals Are Natural Complement Of All Laws They Are By Themselves An Entire Code.

Men Will Risk Their Lives, Even Die For Ribbons.

The Public Spirit Is In The Hands Of The Man Who Knows How To Make Use Of It.

Strong Coffee, Much Strong Coffee, Is What Awakens Me. Coffee Gives Me Warmth, Waking, An Unusual Force And A Pain That Is Not Without Very Great Pleasure.

Man, Not Men, Is The Most Important Consideration.

The Tools Belong To The Man Who Can Use Them.

We May Stop Ourselves When Going Up, Never When Coming Down.

It Is Not Enough To Give Orders They Must Be Obeyed.

Imagination Governs The World.

How Many Things Apparently Impossible Have Nevertheless Been Performed By Resolute Men Who Had No Alternative But Death.

God Is On The Side With The Best Artillery

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.

Great Men Grow Tired Of Contentedness.

I Know Men; And I Tell You That Jesus Christ Is Not A Man. Superficial Minds See A Resemblance Between Christ And The Founders Of Empires, And The Gods Of Other Religions. That Resemblance Does Not Exist. There Is Between Christianity And Whatever Other Religions The Distance Of Infinity.

I Am A Soldier And Accustomed To Risking My Life Every Day. I Am Full Of The Fire Of Youth; I Cannot Act With The Restraint Of An Accomplished Diplomat.

I Am Conquered Less By Fortune Than By The Egotism And Ingratitude Of My Companions In Arms.

The Purely Defensive Is Doomed To Defeat.

War Is A Lottery In Which Nations Ought To Risk Nothing But Small Amounts.

Give Me Enough Ribbons To Place On The Tunics Of My Soldiers And I Can Conquer The World.

Conquer The World

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.

Incidents Should Not Govern Policy; But, Policy Incidents.

Let France Have Good Mothers, And She Will Have Good Sons.

Vengeance Is Without Foresight.

An Army Must Have But One Line Of Operations. This Must Be Maintained With Care And Abandoned Only For Major Reasons.

To Make Yourself Understood To People, One Must First Speak To Their Eyes

I Am The Signet Which Marks The Page Where The Revolution Has Been Stopped; But When I Die It Will Turn The Page And Resume Its Course.

Remember That A Man, A True Man, Never Hates. His Rages And His Bad Moods Never Last Beyond The Present Moment-like Electric Shocks.

Wherever Wood Can Swim, There I Am Sure To Find This Flag Of England.

When A Government Is Dependent Upon Bankers For Money, They And Not The Leaders Of The Government Control The Situation

Called To The Throne By The Voice Of The People, My Maxim Has Always Been: A Career Open To Talent Without Distinction Of Birth. It Is This System Of Equality For Which The European Oligarchy Detests Me

I Have Come To Realise That Men Are Not Born To Be Free.

Born To Be Free

The World Is Not Ruined By The Wickedness Of The Wicked, But By The Weakness Of The Good.

One Might As Well Try To Charge Through A Wall.

Better Live A King, Than A Prince.

Pure Politics Is Merely The Calculus Of Combinations And Of Chances.

When People Cease To Complain, They Cease To Think.

Do You Know What Amazes Me More Than Anything Else? The Impotence Of Force To Organize Anything.

The Bed Has Become A Place Of Luxury To Me! I Would Not Exchange It For All The Thrones In The World.

A Fool Is Only Troublesome, A Pedant Insupportable.

In Our Time No One Has The Conception Of What Is Great. It Is Up To Me To Show Them.

Man Loves The Marvelous. It Has An Irresistible Charm For Him. He Is Always Ready To Leave That With Which He Is Familiar To Pursue Vain Inventions. He Lends Himself To His Own Deception.

The Art Of Choosing Men Is Not Nearly So Difficult As The Art Of Enabling Those Chosen To Attain Their Full Worth.

Greatness Be Nothing Unless It Be Lasting.

What Is The Government? Nothing, Unless Supported By Opinion.

Every French Soldier Carriers A Marshal's Baton In His Knapsack.

If They Want Peace, Nations Should Avoid The Pin-pricks That Precede Cannon Shots.

The Bayonet Has Always Been The Weapon Of The Brave And The Chief Tool Of Victory

Never Awake Me When You Have Good News To Announce, Because With Good News Nothing Presses; But When You Have Bad News, Arouse Me Immediately, For Then There Is Not An Instant To Be Lost.

Public Opinion Is A Mysterious And Invisible Power, To Which Everything Must Yield. There Is Nothing More Fickle, More Vague, Or More Powerful; Yet Capricious As It Is, It Is Nevertheless Much More Often True, Reasonable, And Just, Than We Imagine.

Nothing Is More Difficult, And Therefore More Precious, Than To Be Able To Decide.

Let The Path Be Open To Talent.

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.

If You Know A Country's Geography, You Can Understand And Predict Its Foreign Policy.

Every Man Who Is Worth Thirty Millions And Is Not Wedded To Them, Is Dangerous To The Government.

Suicide Is A Crime The Most Revolting To The Feelings; Nor Does Any Reason Suggest Itself To Our Understanding By Which It Can Be Justified. It Certainly Originates In That Species Of Fear Which We Denominate Poltroonery. For What Claim Can That Man Have To Courage Who Trembles At The Frowns Of Fortunes? True Heroism Consists In Being Superior To The Ills Of Life In Whatever Shape They May Challenge Him To Combat.

Good Intelligence Is Nine-tenths Of Any Battle.

In Tragedy Great Men Are More Truly Great Than In History. We See Them Only In The Crises Which Unfold Them.

It Is With Artillery That War Is Made.

Be Successful! I Judge Men Only By The Results Of Their Actions.

The Process Of Quitting Smoking Doesn't End With The Last Cigarette. It's Not Quitting Itself, The Real Key Is Staying Quit

No Amount Of Money Will Induce Someone To Lay Down Their Life, But They Will Gladly Do So For A Bit Of Yellow Ribbon.

Every Private In The French Army Carries A Field Marshall Wand In His Knapsack.

Medicine Is A Collection Of Uncertain Prescriptions, The Results Of Which, Taken Collectively, Are More Fatal Than Useful To Mankind.

As A Rule It Is Circumstances That Make Men.

The Best Way To Make Every One Poor Is To Insist On Equality Of Wealth.

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.

An Emperor Confides In National Soldiers, Not In Mercenaries.

In War, Moral Factors Acount For Three Quarters Of The Whole; Relative Material Strength Accounts For Only One Quarter.

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.

What A Solace Christianity Must Be To One Who Has An Undoubted Conviction Of Its Truth!

The Heart Of A Statesman Should Be In His Head.

An Urgent Missive Sent To Josephine Home In Three Days. Don't Wash.

Everything Is More Or Less Organized Matter. To Think So Is Against Religion, But I Think So Just The Same.

Envy Is A Declaration Of Inferiority.

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.

I Shall Be An Attila To Venice.

The Practice Of Law Sharpens The Mind By Making It Narrow.

After Making A Mistake Or Suffering A Misfortune, The Man Of Genius Always Gets Back On His Feet.

A Victorious General Must Know How To Employ Severity, Justness, And Mildness By Turns, If He Would Allay Sedition Or Prevent It.

In A Narrow Sphere Great Men Are Blunderers.

A Nation Recruits Men More Easily Than It Can Retrieve Its Honour.

A Man Becomes The Creature Of His Uniform.

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.

In War, Groping Tactics, Half-way Measures, Lose Everything.

War Is The Business Of Barbarians.

Morality Has Nothing To Do With Such A Man As I Am.

A Man Like Me Troubles Himself Little About A Million Men.

A Man Does Not Have Himself Killed For A Half-pence A Day Or For A Petty Distinction. You Must Speak To The Soul In Order To Electrify Him

Chess Is Too Difficult To Be A Game And Not Serious Enough To Be A Science Or An Art.

One Is More Certain To Influence Men, To Produce More Effect On Them, By Absurdities Than By Sensible Ideas.

I Haven't Known 6 Days Of Happiness In My Life.

An Army Which Cannot Be Regularly Recruited Is A Doomed Army.

It Is In Times Of Difficulty That Great Nations Like Great Men Display The Whole Energy Of Their Character And Become An Object Of Admiration To Posterity.

A Portion Of The Multitude Must Ever Be Coerced.

The Inevitable End Of Multiple Chiefs Is That They Fade And Disappear For Lack Of Unity.

Do You Know What Astonished Me The Most In This World? The Inability Of Force To Create Anything.

Against Attempts On My Life, I Trust In My Luck, My Good Genius, And My Guards.

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.

On Victory, You Deserve Beer. On Defeat, You Need It.

Leaders Have To Be Dealers In Hope.

You Think You Are Too Intelligent To Believe In God. I Am Not Like You.

In War, The Moral Is To The Physical As Three Is To One.

No One But Myself Can Be Blamed For My Fall. I Have Been My Own Greatest Enemy-the Cause Of My Own Disastrous Fate.

A Faithful Friend Is The True Image Of The Deity.

Between A Battle Lost And A Battle Won, The Distance Is Immense And There Stand Empires.

Much Shedding Of Blood, Many Great Actions, And Triumphs, Toil And Perseverance Are The End Of All Things Human.

We Are Either Kings Or Pawns Of Men

There Are Only Two Forces In The World, The Sword And The Spirit. In The Long Run The Sword Will Always Be Conquered By The Spirit.

The First Virtue In A Soldier Is Endurance Of Fatigue; Courage Is Only The Second Virtue.

It Is Neither Holy, Roman Or An Empire.

I Am The Successor, Not Of Louis Xvi, But Of Charlemagne.

Whatever Shall We Do In That Remote Spot? Well, We Will Write Our Memoirs. Work Is The Scythe Of Time.

The First Quality Of The Commander-in-chief Is A Cool Head To Receive A Correct Impression Of Things. He Should Not Allow Himself To Be Confused By Either Good Or Bad News.

A Man Is Known By His Conduct To His Wife, To His Family, And To Those Under Him.

Rigorous Authority And Justice Are The Kindness Of Kings.

The Word Impossible Is Not French.

There Is No Man More Pusillanimous Than I When I Am Planning A Campaign. I Purposely Exaggerate All The Dangers And All The Calamities That The Circumstances Make Possible. I Am In A Thoroughly Painful State Of Agitation. This Does Not Keep Me From Looking Quite Serene In Front Of My Entourage; I Am Like An Unmarried Girl Laboring With Child. Once I Have Made Up My Mind, Everything Is Forgotten Except What Leads To Success.

True Character Stands The Test Of Emergencies. Do Not Be Mistaken, It Is Weakness From Which The Awakening Is Rude.

In These Days The Invention Of Printing, And The Diffusion Of Knowledge, Render Historical Calumnies A Little Less Dangerous: Truth Will Always Prevail In The Long Run, But How Slow Its Progress!

We Walk Faster When We Walk Alone.

My Downfall Raises Me To Infinite Heights.

Large Legislative Bodies Resolve Themselves Into Coteries, And Coteries Into Jealousies.

What Is The Future? What Is The Past? What Are We? What Is The Magic Fluid That Surrounds Us And Conceals The Things We Most Need To Know? We Live And Die In The Midst Of Marvels.

It Is Only By Prudence, Wisdom, And Dexterity That Great Ends Are Attained And Obstacles Overcome. Without These Qualities Nothing Succeeds.

Those Who Are Free From Common Prejudices Acquire Others.

The Basic Principle That We Must Follow In Directing The Armies Of The Republic Is This: That They Must Feed Themselves On War At The Expense Of The Enemy Territory.

The Merit Of Mahomet Is That He Founded A Religion Without An Inferno.

A Cowardly Act! What Do I Care About That? You May Be Sure That I Should Never Fear To Commit One If It Were To My Advantage.

Nothing Is More Arrogant Than The Weakness Which Feels Itself Supported By Power.

In The Eyes Of Empire Builders Men Are Not Men But Instruments.

I Saw The Crown Of France Laying On The Ground, So I Picked It Up With My Sword.

Life Is Strewn With So Many Dangers, And Can Be The Source Of So Many Misfortunes, That Death Is Not The Greatest Of Them.

Men Have Their Virtues And Their Vices, Their Heroisms And Their Perversities; Men Are Neither Wholly Good Nor Wholly Bad, But Possess And Practice All That There Is Of Good And Bad Here Below. Such Is The General Rule. Temperament, Education, The Accidents Of Life, Are Modifying Factors. Outside Of This, Everything Is Ordered Arrangement, Everything Is Chance. Such Has Been My Rule Of Expectation And It Has Usually Brought Me Success.

We Must Laugh At Man To Avoid Crying For Him.

Music, Of All The Liberal Arts, Has The Greatest Influence Over The Passions, And It Is That To Which The Legislator Ought To Give The Greatest Encouragement.

He Who Cannot Look Over A Battlefield With A Dry Eye, Causes The Death Of Many Men Uselessly.

France Needs Nothing So Much To Promote Her Regeneration As Good Mothers.

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.

Time Is The Great Art Of Man.

The Gospel Is Not A Book; It Is A Living Being, With An Action, A Power, Which Invades Every Thing That Opposes Its Extension, Behold! It Is Upon This Table: This Book, Surpassing All Others. I Never Omit To Read It, And Every Day With Some Pleasure.

The More I Study The World, The More I Am Convinced Of The Inability Of Brute Force To Create Anything Durable.

My Enemies Make Appointments At My Tomb.

The Best Medicine Against The Grapes Of Wrath Is A Whiff Of Grapeshot

There Are Two Merits That Glorify A Person: Being Courageous For A Man And Being Virtuous For A Woman. Besides These Two, There Is Another Merit That Glorifies Both Man And Woman: So Much Loving The Homeland To An Extent With Being Ready To Sacrifice His/her Life, If Needed. Turks Are Such Courageous And Virtuous People. That Is Why You Can Kill A Turk But You Can Never Defeat Them.

The Transition From The Defensive To The Offensive Is One Of The Most Delicate Operations In War.

Those Who Failed To Oppose Me, Who Readily Agreed With Me, Accepted All My Views, And Yielded Easily To My Opinions, Were Those Who Did Me The Most Injury, And Were My Worst Enemies, Because, By Surrendering To Me So Easily, They Encouraged Me To Go Too Far... I Was Then Too Powerful For Any Man, Except Myself, To Injure Me.

There Are Certain Things In War Of Which The Commander Alone Comprehends The Importance. Nothing But His Superior Firmness And Ability Can Subdue And Surmount All Difficulties.

Generals Are Not To Be Too Scrupulous.

I Hope Before Long To Press You In My Arms And Shall Shower On You A Million Burning Kisses As Under The Equator.

The Emperor Died Forsaken By All, On This Horrible Rock. (st. Helena) His Death Struggle Was Awful!

Medicines Are Only Fit For Old People.

In Order Not To Be Astonished At Obtaining Victories, One Ought Not To Think Only Of Defeats.

Power Is Founded Upon Opinion.

War,--the Trade Of Barbarians!

Great Ambition Is The Passion Of A Great Character.

Tragedy Warms The Soul, Elevates The Heart, Can And Ought To Create Heroes. In This Sense, Perhaps, France Owes A Part Of Her Great Actions To Corneille.

Orders And Decorations Are Necessary In Order To Dazzle The People.

The Worse The Man, The Better The Soldier.

The Contagion Of Crime Is Like That Of The Plague. Criminals Collected Together Corrupt Each Other. They Are Worse Than Ever When, At The Termination Of Their Punishment, They Return To Society.

The Best Generals Are Those Who Have Served In The Artillery.

Independence, Like Honor, Is A Rocky Island, Without A Beach.

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