500 Quotes by Napoleon

They wanted me to be a Washington.

Surely in a matter of this kind we should endeavor to do something, that we may say that we have not lived in vain, that we may leave some impress of ourselves on the sands of time.

We must serve the people worthily, and not occupy ourselves in trying to please them. The best way, to gain their affections is to do them good.

Good infantry is without doubt the sinews of an army; but if it has to fight a long time against very superior artillery, it will become demoralized and will be destroyed.

Public opinion is a mysterious and invisible power, to which everything must yield. There is nothing more fickle, more vague, or more powerful; yet capricious as it is, it is nevertheless much more often true, reasonable, and just, than we imagine.

In time of revolution, with perseverance and courage, a soldier should think nothing impossible.

You would make a ship sail against the winds and currents by lighting a bonfire under her decks? I have no time for such nonsense.

The art of being sometimes audacious and sometimes very prudent is the secret of success.

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.