xy

@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023

Favourite quotes (21448)

“What are we? What is the future? What is the past? What magic fluid envelops us and hides from us the things it is most important for us to know? We are born, we live, and we die in the midst of the marvelous.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“It is a mistake, too, to say that the face is the mirror of the soul. The truth is, men are very hard to know, and yet, not to be deceived, we must judge them by their present actions, but for the present only.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“In politics nothing is immutable. Events carry within them an invincible power. The unwise destroy themselves in resistance. The skillful accept events, take strong hold of them and direct them.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“In a battle, as in a siege, the art consists in concentrating very heavy fire on a particular point. The line of battle once established, the one who has the ability to concentrate an unlooked for mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on one of these points is sure to carry the day.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“There is a joy in danger.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“The issue of a battle is the result of an instant, of a thought. There is the advance, with its various combinations, the battle is joined, the struggle goes on a certain time, the decisive moment presents itself, a spark of genius discloses it, and the smallest body of reserves accomplish victory.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“The hand that gives is above the hand that takes.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Italian saying, quoted by Bonaparte during the first Italian campaign to highlight the financial dependence of the Directoire on the plunder from the Army of Italy, according to Lucian S. Regenbogen, Napoléon a dit : aphorismes, citations et opinions, p. 82.
Attributed
Original: La main qui donne est au-dessus de celle qui reçoit.

“All authority is in the throne; and what is the throne? This wooden frame covered with velvet? No, I am the throne.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Address to the Legislative Body (December 1813) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Napoleon%27s_Addresses/Part_V#Address_to_the_Legislative_Body,_December,_1813.; he here echoes the remark attributed to Louis XIV L'état c'est moi ( "The State is I" or more commonly: "I am the State.")

“Napoleon, far more Italian than French, Italian by race, by instinct, imagination, and souvenir, considers in his plan the future of Italy, and, on casting up the final accounts of his reign, we find that the net profit is for Italy and the net loss is for France. Since Theodoric and the Lombard kings, the Pope, in preserving his temporal sovereignty and spiritual omnipotence, has maintained the sub-divisions of Italy; let this obstacle be removed and Italy will once more become a nation. Napoleon prepares the way, and constitutes it beforehand by restoring the Pope to his primitive condition, by withdrawing from him his temporal sovereignty and limiting his spiritual omnipotence, by reducing him to the position of managing director of Catholic consciences and head minister of the principal cult authorized in the empire.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Hippolyte Taine in Napoleon's views on religion. <br class="br">About, Other <br class="br">Source: Archive https://archive.org/stream/jstor-25102177/25102177_djvu.txt

“Hand weapons were the main weapons of the ancients; it is with his short sword that the legionary conquered the world. It is with the Macedonian lance that Alexander conquered Asia.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Precis des Guerres Cesar Das Napoleon I

“There is no subordination with empty stomachs.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

As attributed in Count Emmanuel de Las Cases, “Journal of the Private Life and Conversations of the Emperor Napoleon at Saint Helena”, 1824.
Attributed

“The Emperor is mad, completely mad, and will destroy us all; this will all end in some horrible crash.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

About

“All religions have been made by men.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

“On s'engage, et puis… on voit. ”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

“He was the God of War.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Theodoros Kolokotronis, Kolokotronis Memoirs by Georgios Tertsetis
About

“France is invaded; I am leaving to take command of my troops, and, with God's help and their valor, I hope soon to drive the enemy beyond the frontier.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Statement at Paris (23 January 1814)

“Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Memoirs of Napoleon (1829-1831)

“A book in which there were no lies would be a curiosity.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“The existence of God is attested by everything that appeals to our imagination. And if our eye cannot reach Him it is because He has not permitted our intelligence to go so far.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“What then is, generally speaking, the truth of history? A fable agreed upon.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Conversation with Emmanuel, comte de Las Cases (20 November 1816), Mémorial de Sainte Hélène, v. 4, p. 251 http://books.google.com/books?id=945jAAAAMAAJ&vq=%22fable%20agreed%20upon%22&pg=PA251. However, the phrase predates Napoleon. Helvétius attributes it to Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, De l'esprit (1758), p. 443 http://books.google.com/books?id=N7g8AAAAcAAJ&vq=%22fable%20convenue%22&pg=RA1-PA443