Quotes from Napoleon Bonaparte

Tragedy is the school of genius; it is the duty of sovereigns to encourage and support it.

Friends must always be treated as if one day they might be enemies.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

All the scholastic scaffolding falls, as a ruined edifice, before one single word — faith.

I have destroyed the Austrian army by simply marching

Champagne. In victory one deserves it, in defeat one needs it.

Aristocracy is the spirit of the Old Testament, democracy of the New.

I count upon taking [the French people] by surprise. A bold deed upsets people's equanimity, and they are dumbfounded by a great novelty.

In religion I do not see the mystery of the Incarnation, but the mystery of the social order. It associates with Heaven an idea of equality that keeps rich men from being massacred by the poor…Society is impossible without inequality, inequality intolerable without a code of morality, and a code of morality unacceptable without religion.

Din, fakirlerin zenginleri öldürmesine engel olur.

My son should often read and meditate on history; it is the only real philosophy

Men are ruled by toys

The inevitable fate of large groups is to perish because of lack of unity.

concentration of strength, activity, and a firm resolve to perish gloriously.

Ma vraie gloire n'est pas d'avoir gagné quarante batailles. Waterloo effacera le souvenir de tant de victoires. Ce que rien n'effacera, ce qui vivra éternellement, c'est mon Code civil.

There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest

Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.

You don't reason with intellectuals. You shoot them

Give me good mothers and I will give you a good nation.

Is mayonnaise an instrument?

L'envie est une déclaration d'infériorité.

Czar Alexander is my baby daddy.

C'est avec des hochets que l'on mène les hommes." Napoléon Bonaparte à propos de la légion d'honneur, qu'il institua en 1802.

Men of genius are meteors intended to burn to light their century