Quotes from Napoleon Bonaparte

My maxim was, la carrière est ouverte aux talents [the road is open to the talented], without distinction of birth or fortune.

Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.

Go, sir, gallop, and don't forget that the world was made in six days. You can ask me for anything you like, except time.

Soldiers, from the summit of yonder pyramids forty centuries look down upon you.

A silk stocking filled with mud.

Perfidious Albion.

The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.

What is the throne?—a bit of wood gilded and covered with velvet. I am the state—I alone am here the representative of the people. Even if I had done wrong you should not have reproached me in public—people wash their dirty linen at home. France has more need of me than I of France.

Until then, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but give me none in return, for they set my blood on fire.

Wherever wood can swim, there I am sure to find this flag of England.

The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.

One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.

Unite for the public safety, if you would remain an independent nation.

All religions have been made by men.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means.

You must not fear death, my lads defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks.

Whatever shall we do in that remote spot? Well, we will write our memoirs. Work is the scythe of time.

The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.

Respect the burden.

Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.

Two o'clock in the morning courage: I mean unprepared courage.

To do all that one is able to do, is to be a man to do all that one would like to do, is to be a god.

The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon is the sole obstacle to the reestablishment of peace in Europe, he, faithful to his oath, declares that he is ready to descend from the throne, to quit France, and even to relinquish life, for the good of his country.