Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte

French Emperor and conqueror

Early Modern influential 138 sayings

Sayings by Napoleon Bonaparte

Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
General Unverifiable

The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, widely quoted, but its precise origin is debated
General Unverifiable

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
General Unverifiable

The tools to him that can handle them.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
General Unverifiable

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.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
Political Unverifiable

One must not offend a man who has just been hanged.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
General Unverifiable

The human race is governed by its imagination.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
Social & Racial Unverifiable

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
General Unverifiable

It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
General Unverifiable

The hand that gives is above the hand that takes.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
General Unverifiable

The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
War & Violence Unverifiable

What is the government? Nothing, unless supported by opinion.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
Political Unverifiable

The more you do, the more you can do. The less you do, the less you can do.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
General Unverifiable

To understand the man, you have to know what was happening in the world when he was twenty.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
General Unverifiable

Victory belongs to the most persevering.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
General Unverifiable

The greater the man, the less he is subject to fortune; he depends on himself and his own resources.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
General Unverifiable

The people to whom I have given the most liberties are the ones who have done me the most harm.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
General Unverifiable

I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.

c. 1800-1815 — Attributed, various sources
General Confirmed

The art of war is like that of governing, to unite, to concentrate, and to act.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
War & Violence Unverifiable

The only conquests which are permanent are those of the mind.

c. 1804-1815 — Maxims (1804-1815)
General Unverifiable
Your Cart

Your cart is empty