Napoleon Quotes

A general must be a charlatan.

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.

You don't govern men who don't have religion, you shoot them.

Le mot impossible n'est pas français.

You can ask me for anything you like, except time

Always carry champagne! In victory You deserve it & in defeat You need it!

Greatness is nothing unless it be lasting

War is becoming an anachronism; if we have battled in every part of the continent it was because two opposing social orders were facing each other, the one which dates from 1789, and the old regime. They could not exist together; the younger devoured the other. I know very well, that, in the final reckoning, it was war that overthrew me, me the representative of the French Revolution, and the instrument of its principles. But no matter! The battle was lost for civilization, and civilization will inevitably take its revenge. There are two systems, the past and the future. The present is only a painful transition. Which must triumph? The future, will it not? Yes indeed, the future! That is, intelligence, industry, and peace. The past was brute force, privilege, and ignorance. Each of our victories was a triumph for the ideas of the Revolution. Victories will be won, one of these days, without cannon, and without bayonets.

A form of government that is not the result of a long sequence of shared experiences, efforts, and endeavors can never take root.

At the beginning of a campaign it is important to consider whether or not to move forward; but when one has taken the offensive it is necessary to maintain it to the last extremity. However skilfully effected a retreat may be, it always lessens the morale of an army, since in losing the chances of success, they are remitted to the enemy. A retreat, moreover, costs much more in men and materials than the bloodiest engagements, with this difference, also, that in a battle the enemy loses practically as much as you do; while in a retreat you lose and he does not.

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.

I hope before long to press you in my arms and shall shower on you a million burning kisses as under the Equator.

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

Audacity succeeds as often as it fails; in life it has an even chance.

More glorious to merit a sceptre than to possess one.