Napoléon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821)

Emperor of France

King of Italy

Table of contents

1 Sourced 2 Attributed 2.1 A-C 2.2 D-G 2.3 H-L 2.4 M-S 2.5 T 2.6 U-Z 3 External links

Sourced

• "Immortality is the recollection one leaves"
  • Source: Memoirs of Napoleon, by Bourrienne

• "Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied"
  • Source: Memoirs of Napoleon, by Bourrienne

• "Malice delights to blacken the characters of prominent men"
  • Source: Memoirs of Napoleon, by Bourrienne

• "More glorious to merit a sceptre than to possess one"
  • Source: Memoirs of Napoleon, by Bourrienne

• "Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others"
  • Source: Memoirs of Napoleon, by Bourrienne

Attributed

A-C

• "A constitution should be framed so as not to impede the action of government, nor force the government to its violation."

• "A constitution should be short and obscure."

• "A government protected by foreigners will never be accepted by a free people."

• "A great people may be killed, but they cannot be intimidated."

• "A great reserve and severity of manners are necessary for the command of those who are older than ourselves."

• "A king is sometimes obliged to commit crimes; but they are crimes of his position."

• "A king should sacrifice the best affections of his heart for the good of his country; no sacrifice should be above his determination."

• "A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights."

• "A portion of the multitude must ever be coerced."

• "Ah, tenez, vous êtes de la merde dans un bas de soie."
  • Translation: "Ah, wait, you are shit in a silk stocking."
  • Note: Referring to Talleyrand, on 28 January 1809

• "All men are equal before God: wisdom, talents, and virtue are the only difference between them."

• "Better not to have been born than to live without glory."

• "Better to have a known enemy than a forced ally."

• "Better to have an open enemy, than hidden friends."

• "Calumny, envy, and all revengeful passions appear almost exclusively to direct the actions of men."

• "Ces terribles chevaux gris! Comme il travaillent!" (Those terrible grey horses , how they strive!)

• "Civil liberty depends upon the security of property."

• "Cruelty can only be justified by necessity."

D-G

• "Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily."

• "Death may expiate faults, but cannot repair them."

• "Different subjects and different affairs are arranged in my head as in a cupboard. When I wish to interrupt one train of thought, I shut that drawer and open another. Do I wish to sleep, I simply close all the drawers and then I am - asleep."

• "Everything has a limit, even human emotions."

• "Everything in religion should be gratuitous, and for the people; care must be taken not to deprive the poor ... of the only thing which consoles them for their poverty."

• "Experience proves that armies are not always sufficient to save a nation; while a nation defended by it's people is ever invincible."

• "Fanaticism must first be lulled, in order that it may be eradicated."

• "Female virtue has been held in suspicion from the beginning of the world, and ever will be."

• "Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets."

• "Free trade favors all classes, excites all imaginations, and rouses the whole population; it is identical with equality, and tends naturally to independence."

• "Frenchmen know not how to conspire."

• "Friendship is but a name."

• "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."

• "Great ambition is the passion of a great character. He who is endowed with it may perform either very great actions or very bad ones; all depends upon the principles which direct him."

• "Greatness is nothing unless it be lasting."

H-L

• "He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat."

• "He who fights against his country, is a child who would kill his own mother."

• "He who is unmoved by tears has no heart."

• "History is a fraud agreed upon" ( said after his defeat at Waterloo)

• "History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon."

• "I am never angry when contradicted, I seek to be enlightened."

• "I believe love to be hurtful to society, and to the individual happiness of men. I believe, in short, that love does more harm than good."

• "I have been called upon to change the face of the world."

• "I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest."

• "I have recognised the limits of my eyesight and of my legs, but never the limits of my working power."

• "I was born and made for work."

• "If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god."

• "If you want a thing done well, do it yourself."

• " 'Impossible' n'est pas français."
  • Translation "'Impossible' is not [in the] French [language]."

• "In a great nation, the majority are incapable of judging wisely of things."

• "In choosing a wife, a man does not renounce his mother, and still less is he justified in breaking her heart."

• "In great crisis, it is the lot of women to soften our misfortunes."

• "It is in the workshops of the country that the most successfull war is waged against an enemy, at least it does not cost a drop of it's people's blood."

• "It is the cause, and not the death, that makes the martyr."

• "It is the province of honest men to enlighten the government."

• "It requires more courage to suffer than to die."

M-S

• "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."

• "My motto has always been: A career open to all talents, without distinctions of birth."

• "Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

• "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

• " Now we are in a fix. Peace has been declared."
  • After the treaty of Amien

• "Passionate people invariably deny their anger, and cowards often boast their ignorance of fear."

• "People accustomed to great victories, know not how to support a day of reverse."

• "Popes have committed too many absurdities to create a belief in their infallibility."

• "Power is founded on opinion."

• "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."

• "So you think the police foresees and knows everything. The police invents more than it discovers."

• "Some men have sufficient strength of mind to change their disposition, or at least to yield to imperative circumstances."

• "Speeches pass away, but acts remain."

• "Strategy is the art of making use of time and space. I am less concerned about the latter than the former. Space we can recover, lost time never."

• "Such work as mine is not done twice in a century. I saved the Revolution as it lay dying, I have cleansed it of its crimes and have held it up to the people shining with fame. I inspired France and Europe with new ideas which will never be forgotten.

T

• "Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent."

• "The allies we gain by victory, will turn against us upon the bare whisper of our defeat."

• "The aristocracy has the advantage of concentrating the power of Government into less dangerous hands than those of the ignorant multitude."

• "The best way to keep one's word is not to give it."

• "The favorable opportunity must be seized; for fortune is female, and if you balk her today you must not expect to meet her again tomorrow."

• "The guilt of many men may be traced to over-affection for their wives."

• "The heart of a minister should be nowhere but in his head."

• "The life of a citizen is the property of his country."

• "The most important qualification of a soldier is fortitude under fatigue and privation. Courage is only second; hardship, poverty and want are the best school for a soldier."

• "The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance."

• "The only victory over love is flight."

• "The people never rub themselves against naked bayonets."

• "The spectacle of a field of battle after the combat is sufficient to inspire princes with the love of peace and the horror of war."

• "The stupid speak of the past, the wise of the present, and fools of the future."

• "The true character of man ever displays itself in great events."

• "The woman we love is ever the prettiest of her sex."

• "There are calumnies against which even innocence loses courage."

• "There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous."

• "There is neither subordination, nor fear in empty bellies."

• "There is no greater misfortune for a man than to be governed by his wife: in such case he is neither himself nor his wife, he is a perfect nonentity."

• "There is one thing that's not French: for a woman to be able to do what she likes."

• "They think I am stern, even hardhearted. So much the better-this makes it unnecessary for me to justify my reputation. My firmness is taken for callousness. I shall not complain, since this notion is responsible for the good order that is prevailing, so that there is nothing that needs to be repressed."

• "To abandon oneself to despair without a struggle, to commit suicide as a relief, is like leaving the field of battle before we have vanquished the enemy."

• "To extraordinary circumstances we must apply extraordinary remedies."

• "To have a right estimate of a man's character, we must see him in misfortune."

• "To have good soldiers, a nation must always be at war."

• "To seduce a wife from her husband, or a son from his father, are odious acts, unworthy of civilised nations."

U-Z

• "Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu'un long discours."
  • Translation: "A good sketch is better than a long speech."
  • Alternate translation: "A picture is worth a thousand words."

• "We cannot escape from the arbitrariness of the judge, unless we place ourselves under the despotism of the law."

• "We must not obstinately contend against circumstances, but rather let us obey them. We have many projects in life but little determination."

• "We must not take up arms for vain prospects of grandeur, nor the allurements of conquest."

• "We must take things as we find them, and not as we wish them to be."

• "We walk faster when we walk alone."

• "When China awakes, the world will tremble."

• "When he who measures the duration of life has pronounced his secret, all the sciences of humanity are but useless essays."

• "When you have an enemy in your power, deprive him of the means of ever injuring you."

• "Women are nothing but machines for producing children."

• "You cannot treat with all the world at once."

External links