Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821)
French military general who rose to prominence in the French Revolution, becoming the ruler of France as First Consul of the French Republic (11 November 1799 - 18 May 1804), and then Emperor of the French and King of Italy under the name Napoleon I (18 May 1804 - 6 April 1814, and again briefly from 20 March - 22 June 1815).
The future destiny of the child is always the work of his mother. Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.
One can lead a nation only by helping it see a bright outlook. A leader is a dealer in hope.
It is not necessary to prohibit or encourage oddities of conduct which are not harmful.
I am a monarch of God's creation, and you reptiles of the earth dare not oppose me. I render an account of my government to none save God and Jesus Christ.
A constitution should be short and obscure.
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.
Europe is a molehill. It has never had any great empires, like those of the Orient, numbering six hundred million souls.
You cannot treat with all the world at once.
The people must not be counted upon; they cry indifferently : "Long live the King!" and "Long live the Conspirators!" a proper direction must be given to them, and proper instruments employed to effect it.
The hand that gives is above the hand that takes. (La main qui donne est au-dessus de celle qui reçoit.)
In civil war it is not given to every man to know how to conduct himself. There is something more than military prudence necessary; there is need of sagacity and the knowledge of men.
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?
Aristocracy is the spirit of the Old Testament, democracy of the New.
Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied.
The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances.
To listen to the interests of all, marks an ordinary government; to foresee them, marks a great government.
Necessity dominates inclination, will, and right.
Messieurs, nous avons un maître, ce jeune homme fait tout, peut tout, et veut tout.
If I had succeeded, I would have been the greatest man known to history.
What I have done up to this is nothing. I am only at the beginning of the course I must run. Do you imagine that I triumph in Italy in order to aggrandise the pack of lawyers who form the Directory, and men like Carnot and Barras? What an idea!