Napoleon Quotes

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 France, only the impossible is admired.

You don't reason with intellectuals. You shoot them.

Those who receive the most images into their memories have the most lively imaginations.

In war one must lean on an obstacle in order to overcome it.

I did not usurp the crown. I picked it up from the gutter; the people placed it on my head. I was king of the people as the Bourbons are kings of the nobles

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

Under a good administration, the Nile gains on the desert. Under a bad one, the desert gains on the Nile.

In politics, an absurdity is not an impediment.

Well, then, had I been at Martinique, I should also have been on the side of the English, because above all things it is necessary to save one's life. I am for the whites, because I am white; I have no other reason, yet that is reason good enough. How was it possible to grant liberty to the Africans, to men without any kind of civilization, who did not even know what a colony meant, or that there was such a place as France?

Posterity alone rightly judges kings. Posterity alone has the right to accord or withhold honors.

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.

The fool has one great advantage over a man of sense — he is always satisfied with himself.

Nothing is lost as long as courage remains

The sentiment of national honor is never more than half extinguished in the French. It takes only a spark to re-kindle it.