French military commander & political leader (1769-1821)
I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, The Dance of Life
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Napoleon Bonaparte in Russia
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 BONAPARTE
letter to his uncle, June 1791
Independence, like honor, is a rocky island without a beach.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Day's Collacon
A leader is a dealer in hope.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, And I Quote
If I had to have a religion, I should adore the sun, for it is the sun that fertilizes everything.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
conversation related by Las Cases, The Mind of Napoleon: A Selection from His Written and Spoken Words
The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Political Aphorisms, Moral and Philosophical Thoughts
We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
The Table Talk and Opinions of Napoleon Bonaparte
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Napoleon in His Own Words
Victory belongs to the most persevering.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Excellent Quotations for Home and School
The most dangerous moment comes with victory.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Your Mind Power Unleashed
Necessity dominates inclination, will, and right.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Napoleon: In His Own Words
All systems of morality are fine. The gospel alone has exhibited a complete assemblage of the principles of morality, divested of all absurdity. It is not composed, like your creed, of a few common-place sentences put into bad verse. Do you wish to see that which is really sublime? Repeat the Lord's Prayer.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers
It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, The St. Helena Journal of General Baron Gourgaud, 1815-1818: Being a Diary Written at St. Helena During a Part of Napoleon's Captivity
All celebrated people lose dignity upon close inspection.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
attributed, Forty Thousand Quotations, Prose and Poetical