Background Image

...

Many A One Commits A Reprehensible Action, Who Is At Bottom An Honourable Man, Because Man Seldom Acts Upon Natural Impulse, But From Some Secret Passion Of The Moment Which Lies Hidden And Concealed Within The Narrowest Folds Of His Heart.

-Napoleon Bonaparte

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

Many A One Commits

Napoleon Bonaparte

...

Many A One Commits A Reprehensible Action, Who Is At Bottom An Honourable Man, Because Man Seldom Acts Upon Natural Impulse, But From Some Secret Passion Of The Moment Which Lies Hidden And Concealed Within The Narrowest Folds Of His Heart.

Views: 27024

Topic

More From Napoleon Bonaparte

The Heart Of A Statesman Should Be In His Head.

This Accession Of Territory Affirms Forever The Power Of The United States, And I Have Given England A Maritime Rival Who Sooner Or Later Will Humble Her Pride.

You Can Not Lead A Battle If You Think You Look Silly On A Horse.

An Aristocracy Is The True Support Of A Monarchy.

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

Opportunities? I Make Opportunities.

Clever Policy Consists In Making Nations Believe They Are Free.

The Strong Man Is The One Who Is Able To Intercept At Will The Communication Between The Senses And The Mind.

Cavalry Is Useful Before, During, And After The Battle.

An Order That Can Be Misunderstood, Will Be Misunderstood.

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

There Are Only Two Forces That Unite Men - Fear And Interest.

I Want The Whole Of Europe To Have One Currency; It Will Make Trading Much Easier.

The Man Fitted For Affairs And Authority Never Considers Individuals, But Things And Their Consequences.

The Purely Defensive Is Doomed To Defeat.

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

The Only Victories Which Leave No Regret Are Those Which Are Gained Over Ignorance.

Impossible Is The Word Found Only In A Fool's Dictionary. Wise People Create Opportunities For Themselves And Make Everything Possible.

God! How Men Of Letters Are Stupid.

The Poor Man Commands Respect; The Beggar Must Always Excite Anger.

All The Women In The World Would Not Make Me Lose An Hour.

Over-preparation Is The Foe Of Inspiration.

Unhappy The General Who Comes On The Field Of Battle With A System.

He Who Fears Being Conquered Is Sure Of Defeat.

America Is A Fortunate Country. She Grows By The Follies Of Our European Nations.

It Is Only With Prudence, Sagacity, And Much Dexterity That Great Aims Are Accomplished, And All Obstacles Surmounted. Otherwise Nothing Is Accomplished.

I Have Destroyed The Enemy Merely By Marches.

It's The People Who Are In The Wrong Who Get Angry.

Few Really Believe. The Most Only Believe That They Believe Or Even Make Believe.

Fanaticism Must Be Put To Sleep Before It Can Be Eradicated.

It's Not The Size Of The Army But The Power Within The Army.

The Sovereignty Of The People Is Inalienable.

Whatever Misanthropists May Say, Ingrates And The Perverse Are Exceptions In The Human Species.

The Jews Are The Master Robbers Of The Modern Age.

Riches Do Not Consist In The Possession Of Treasures, But In The Use Made Of Them.

Self Improvement

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.

We Are Made Weak Both By Idleness And Distrust Of Ourselves. Unfortunate, Indeed, Is He Who Suffers From Both. If He Is A Mere Individual He Becomes Nothing; If He Is A King He Is Lost.

To Attach No Importance To Public Opinion, Is A Proof That You Do Not Merit Its Suffrage.

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.

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.

Agriculture Is The Soul And Chief Support Of Empires; Industry Produces Riches And The Happiness Of The People; Exportation Represents The Superabundance, And Good Use Of Both.

There Is No Class Of People So Hard To Manage In A State, As Those Whose Intentions Are Honest, But Whose Consciences Are Bewitched.

War Must Be Made As Intense And Awful As Possible In Order To Make It Short, And Thus To Diminish Its Horrors.

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

Nothing Is So Important In War As An Undivided Command.

The Laws Of Circumstance Are Abolished By New Circumstances.

I Am Surrounded By Priests Who Repeat Incessantly That Their Kingdom Is Not Of This World, And Yet They Lay Their Hands On Everything They Can Get.

Occupation Is The Scythe Of Time.

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.

The Fate Of A Nation May Sometimes Depend Upon The Position Of A Fortress.

Do You Know What Is More Hard To Bear Than The Reverses Of Fortune? It Is The Baseness, The Hideous Ingratitude, Of Man.

It Is The Cause, Not The Death, That Makes The Martyr.

Order Marches With Weighty And Measured Strides. Disorder Is Always In A Hurry.

Better To Have A Known Enemy Than A Forced Ally.

There Shall Be No Alps.

One Must Change One's Tactics Every Ten Years If One Wishes To Maintain One's Superiority.

Democracy, If It Is Reasonable, Limits Itself To Giving Everyone An Equal Opportunity To Compete And To Obtain.

My Success And Everything Good That I Have Done, I Owe To My Mother.

Those Who Failed To Oppose Me, Who Readily Agreed With Me And Accepted All My Views, Were Those Who Did Me The Most Injury.

Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, And I Have Founded Empires. But On What Did We Rest The Creations Of Our Genius? Upon Force. Jesus Christ Founded His Empire Upon Love; And At This Hour Millions Of Men Would Die For Him.

Inspirational Love

You Must Not Fight Too Often With One Enemy, Or You Will Teach Him All Your Art Of War.

Victory Is Not Always Winning The Battle...but Rising Every Time You Fall.

The Only True Conquests-those That Awaken No Regrets- Are Those Obtained Over Our Ignorance.

The Art Of Government Is Not To Let Me Grow Stale.

Necessity Dominates Inclination, Will, And Right.

Women Are Nothing But Machines For Producing Children.

The Life Of A Citizen Is The Property Of His Country.

Revolutions Are Good Times For Soldiers Of Talent And Courage.

Nature Intended Women To Be Our Slaves. They Are Our Property.

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.

They Wanted Me To Be A Washington.

The Worse The Man The Better The Soldier. If Soldiers Be Not Corrupt They Ought To Be Made So.

Neglect Of Duty Does Not Cease, By Repetition, To Be Neglect Of Duty.

The Fate Of War Is To Be Exalted In The Morning, And Low Enough At Night! There Is But One Step From Triumph To Ruin.

Posterity Will Talk Of Washington As The Founder Of A Great Empire, When My Name Shall Be Lost In The Vortex Of Revolution.

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

To Be Believed Make The Truth Unbelievable.

Do Not Talk To Me Of Goodness, Of Abstract Justice, Of Nature Law. Necessity Is The Highest Law, Public Welfare Is The Highest Justice.

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

It Is Easy To Know When A Government Wishes For Peace By Observing The Character Of The Person Sent To Negotiate For It.

Paradise Is A Center Whither The Souls Of All Men Are Proceeding, Each Sect In Its Particular Road.

I Wish I Could Take A Raincheck On June 18.1815

A Leader Has The Right To Be Beaten, But Never The Right To Be Surprised.

If The Earth Were A Single State, Istanbul Would Be Its Capital.

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

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

Wine Is Inspiring And Adds Greatly To The Joy Of Living.

I See Only My Objective - The Obstacles Must Give Way.

Republican Despotism Is More Fertile In Acts Of Tyranny, Because Everyone Has A Hand In It.

Medicines Are Only Fit For Old People.

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

We Are Born, We Live, We Die Among Supernatural.

The Worse The Man, The Better The Soldier.

History Is A Myth That Men Agree To Believe.

A Journalist Is A Grumbler, A Censurer, A Giver Of Advice, A Regent Of Sovereigns, A Tutor Of Nations. Four Hostile Newspapers Are More To Be Feared Than A Thousand Bayonets.

There Is No Such Thing As Accident; It Is Fate Misnamed.

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

Courage Cannot Be Counterfeited. It Is One Virtue That Escapes Hypocrisy.

In Order To Govern, The Question Is Not To Follow Out A More Or Less Valid Theory But To Build With Whatever Materials Are At Hand. The Inevitable Must Be Accepted And Turned To Advantage.

I Drink Champagne When I Win, To Celebrate...and I Drink Champagne When I Lose, To Console Myself.

The Most Difficult Art Is Not In The Choice Of Men, But In Giving To The Men Chosen The Highest Service Of Which They Are Capable.

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

The Advance And Perfecting Of Mathematics Are Closely Joined To The Prosperity Of The Nation.

An Army Marches On Its Stomach.

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

Strangers Are Just Friends Waiting To Happen. To Become A Good Man, One Must Have Faithful Friends, Or Outright Enemies.

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.

The Art Of Being Sometimes Audacious And Sometimes Very Prudent Is The Secret Of Success.

Lead The Ideas Of Your Time And They Will Accompany And Support You; Fall Behind Them And They Drag You Along With Them; Oppose Them And They Will Overwhelm You.

In War, Three-quarters Turns On Personal Character And Relations; The Balance Of Manpower And Materials Counts Only For The Remaining Quarter.

Tis A Principle Of War That When You Can Use The Lightning, 'tis Better Than Cannon.

I Know Men, And I Tell You, Jesus Is More Than A Man. Comparison Is Impossible Between Him And Any Other Human Being Who Ever Lived, Because He Was The Son Of God.

Men Are Never Attached To You By Favours.

Wisdom And Policy Dictate That We Must Do As Destiny Demands And Keep Peace With The Irresistible March Of Events.

High Politic Is Only Common Sense Applied To Great Things.

There Must Be Religion. Otherwise The Poor Would Murder The Rich.

The Reason Most People Fail Instead Of Succeed Is They Trade What They Want Most For What They Want At The Moment.

He Who Knows How To Flatter Also Knows How To Slander.

I Would Believe Any Religion That Could Prove It Had Existed Since The Beginning Of The World. But When I See Socrates, Plato, Moses, And Mohammed I Do Not Think There Is Such A One. All Religions Owe Their Origin To Man.

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

In A Conquered Country Benevolence Is Not Humanitarianism. It Is A General Political Axiom That A Conqueror Must Not Inspire A Good Opinion Of His Benevolence Until He Has Demonstrated That He Can Be Severe With Malefactors.

The Object Of War Is Victory, The Object Of Victory Is Conquest, And The Object Of Conquest Is Occupation.

A True Master Of Politics Is Able To Calculate, Down To The Smallest Fraction, The Advantages To Which He May Put His Very Faults.

It Must Be Recognized That The Real Truths Of History Are Hard To Discover. Happily, For The Most Part, They Are Rather Matters Of Curiosity Than Of Real Importance.

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

Every Means Should Be Taken To Attach The Soldier To His Colours.

An Army Which Cannot Be Reenforced Is Already Defeated.

A Beautiful Woman Like Eyes, And A Good Heart; One Is A Beautiful Thing, And Other Treasures.

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!

It Is Not Necessary To Prohibit Or Encourage Oddities Of Conduct Which Are Not Harmful.

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.

There Is A Joy In Danger.

For My Part, It Is Not The Mystery Of The Incarnation Which I Discover In Religion, But The Mystery Of Social Order, Which Associates With Heaven That Idea Of Equality Which Prevents The Rich From Destroying The Poor

When You Have Resolved To Fight A Battle, Collect Your Whole Force. Dispense With Nothing. A Single Battalion Sometimes Decides The Day.

War Is A Serious Game In Which A Man Risks His Reputation, His Troops, And His Country. A Sensible Man Will Search Himself To Know Whether Or Not He Is Fitted For The Trade.

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

An Army Of Lions Commanded By A Deer Will Never Be An Army Of Lions.

How Can You Have Order In A State Without Religion? For, When One Man Is Dying Of Hunger Near Another Who Is Ill Of Surfeit, He Cannot Resign Himself To This Difference Unless There Is An Authority Which Declares 'god Wills It Thus.' Religion Is Excellent Stuff For Keeping Common People Quiet.

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

When Small Men Attempt Great Enterprises, They Always End By Reducing Them To The Level Of Their Mediocrity.

Soldiers! Forty Centuries Behold You!

My Mind Is A Chest Of Drawers. When I Wish To Deal With A Subject, I Shut All The Drawers But The One In Which The Subject Is To Be Found. When I Am Wearied, I Shut All The Drawers And Go To Sleep.

I Don't Employ Talleyrand When I Want A Thing Done, But Only When I Want To Have The Appearance Of Wanting To Do It.

Revolutions Are Like The Most Noxious Dungheaps, Which Bring Into Life The Noblest Vegetables.

I Have Fought Sixty Battles, And I Have Learnt Nothing Which I Did Not Know At The Beginning.

Whatever May Be The Position In Life Of A Parent, It Is His Duty To Share His Crust With His Children. If You Want A Thing Done Well, Do It Yourself.

Victory And Disaster Establish Indestructible Bonds Between Armies And Their Commanders.

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

In A Narrow Sphere Great Men Are Blunderers.

War Is Ninety Percent Information.

Ability Is Noting Without Opportunity.

When You Have An Enemy In Your Power, Deprive Him Of The Means Of Ever Injuring You.

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

Born To Be Free

Sometimes A Great Example Is Necessary To All The Public Functionaries Of The State.

There Is Only One Favorable Moment In War; Talent Consists In Knowing How To Seize It.

A Celebrated People Lose Dignity Upon A Closer View.

In A Great Nation, The Majority Are Incapable Of Judging Wisely Of Things.

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

Leave The Artillerymen Alone, They Are An Obstinate Lot.

Europe Is A Molehill. All Great Empires And Revolutions Have Been On The Orient; Six Hundred Millions Live There.

A True Man Hates No One.

My True Glory Is Not To Have Won 40 Battles ... Waterloo Will Erase The Memory Of So Many Victories, ... But ... What Will Live Forever, Is My Civil Code.

You Cannot Stop Me; I Spend Thirty Thousand Men A Month.

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.

Timid And Cowardly Soldiers Cause The Loss Of A Nation's Independence; But Pusillanimous Magistrates Destroy The Empire Of The Laws, The Rights Of The Throne, And Even Social Order Itself.

So You Think The Police Foresees And Knows Everything. The Police Invents More Than It Discovers.

Nothing Makes The Future Look So Rosy As To Contemplate It Through A Glass Of Chambertin.

A Commander-in-chief Cannot Take As An Excuse For His Mistakes In Warfare An Order Given By His Sovereign Or His Minister When The Person Giving The Order Is Absent From The Field Of Operations And Is Imperfectly Aware Or Wholly Unaware Of The Latest State Of Affairs. It Follows That Any Commander-in-chief Who Undertakes To Carry Out A Plan Which He Considers Defective Is At Fault; He Must Put Forward His Reasons, Insist On The Plan Being Changed, And Finally Tender His Resignation Rather Than Be The Instrument Of His Army's Downfall.

In Politics, An Absurdity In Public Business Is Going Into It.

War Is Like Government, A Matter Of Tact.

Die Young, And I Shall Accept Your Death-but Not If You Have Lived Without Glory, Without Being Useful To Your Country, Without Leaving A Trace Of Your Existence: For That Is Not To Have Lived At All.

It Is Necessary For The Heart To Feel As For The Body To Be Fed.

When I Give A Minister An Order, I Leave It To Him To Find The Means To Carry It Out.

Bloodletting Is Among The Ingredients Of Political Medicine.

Nothing Is Lost As Long As Courage Remains

Democracy May Become Frenzied, But It Has Feelings And Can Be Moved. As For Aristocracy, It Is Always Cold And Never Forgives.

Those Who Are Free From Common Prejudices Acquire Others.

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

It Should Not Be Believed That A March Of Three Or Four Days In The Wrong Direction Can Be Corrected By A Countermarch. As A Rule, This Is To Make Two Mistakes Instead Of One.

Great Men Are Never Cruel Without Necessity.

Put Your Iron Hand In A Velvet Glove.

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

Variety Made The Revolution. Liberty Was Just A Pretext.

We Must Laugh At Man To Avoid Crying For Him.

The Fate Of A Battle Is The Result Of A Moment, Of A Thought: The Hostile Forces Advance With Various Combinations, They Attack Each Other And Fight For A Certain Time; The Critical Moment Arrives, A Mental Flash Decides, And The Least Reserve Accomplishes The Object.

I Made All My Generals Out Of Mud.

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

Jesus Chris Was More Than Man.

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

A Magistrate Is Not A Father; He Must Be Just And Severe. Only Tyrants Are Fathers.

Terrorism, War & Bankruptcy Are Caused By The Privatization Of Money, Issued As A Debt And Compounded By Interest.

Half Of The People In The World Are Below Average.

Ambition Never Is In A Greater Hurry That I; It Merely Keeps Pace With Circumstances And With My General Way Of Thinking.

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

Policemen And Prisons Ought Never To Be The Means Used To Bring Men Back To The Practice Of Religion.

Time Is The Great Art Of Man.

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.

The First Method Is That Of A Schemer And Leads Only To Mediocre Results; The Other Method Is The Path Of Genius And Changes The Face Of The World.

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

Posterity Alone Rightly Judges Kings. Posterity Alone Has The Right To Accord Or Withhold Honors.

Trending Author

Christopher Morley

Category