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@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023

Favourite quotes (21448)

“Whatever misanthropists may say, ingrates and the perverse are exceptions in the human species.”

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“Give them a whiff of grapeshot.”

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

This is often quoted as a command Napoleon issued when dispersing mobs marching on the National Assembly in Paris (5 October 1795), or it is occasionally stated that he boasted "I gave them a whiff of grapeshot" sometime afterwards, but the first known use of the term "whiff of grapeshot" is actually by Thomas Carlyle in his work The French Revolution (1837), describing the use of cannon salvo [salve de canons] against crowds, and not even the use of them by Napoleon.
Misattributed

“Man achieves in life only by commanding the capabilities nature has given him, or by creating them within himself by education and by knowing how to profit by the difficulties encountered.”

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“How many seemingly impossible things have been accomplished by resolute men because they had to do, or die.”

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“The barbarous custom of having men beaten who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men, by putting them to torture, produces nothing worthwhile. The poor wretches say anything that comes into their mind and what they think the interrogator wishes to know.”

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

On the subject of torture, in a letter to Louis Alexandre Berthier (11 November 1798), published in Correspendance Napoleon edited by Henri Plon (1861), Vol. V, No. 3605, p. 128

“If the art of war were nothing but the art of avoiding risks, glory would become the prey of mediocre minds…. I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest.”

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

Statement at the beginning of the 1813 campaign, as quoted in The Mind of Napoleon (1955) by J. Christopher Herold, p. 45

“Fanaticism must be put to sleep before it can be eradicated.”

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“The Corsican ogre has just landed at the Juan Gulf.”

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

Le Moniteur Universel, March 10, 1815.
About

“One can lead a nation only by helping it see a bright outlook. A leader is a dealer in hope.”

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“Each state claims the right to control interests foreign to itself when those interests are such that it can control them without putting its own interests in danger. … other powers only recognize this right of intervening in proportion as the country doing it has the power to do it.”

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.”

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

Speech to his troops in Egypt (21 July 1798) Variant translation: "Soldiers, from the summit of yonder pyramids forty centuries look down upon you...". Published in the autobiography of French general Eugène de Beauharnais.

“The future destiny of the child is always the work of his mother. Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.”

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

As quoted in Mama Was My Teacher: Growing Up In A Small Southern Town (2004) by Dozier Cade, p. 77
Attributed

“An army which cannot be reenforced is already defeated.”

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“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.”

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

From an alleged Letter of to his Minister of the Interior on the Poor Laws. Pub. in The Press, Feb. 1, 1868.
Attributed

“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

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

Often known as Hanlon's razor, this was attributed to Napoleon without source in Message Passing Server Internals (2003) by Bill Blunden, p. 15, ISBN 0071416382
Misattributed

“I hope the time is not far off when I shall be able to unite all the wise and educated men of all the countries and establish a uniform regime based on the principles of the Quran which alone are true and which alone can lead men to happiness.”

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

Letter to Sheikh El-Messiri, (28 August 1798); published in Correspondance Napoleon edited by Henri Plon (1861), Vol.4, No. 3148, p. 420

“If I were an Englishman, I should esteem the man who advised a war with China to be the greatest living enemy of my country. You would be beaten in the end, and perhaps a revolution in India would follow.”

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

Reported as being from an 1817 conversation in The Mind of Napoleon, ed. and trans. J. Christopher Herold (1955), p. 249. Reported as unverified in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989).
Attributed

“All men of genius, and all those who have gained rank in the republic of letters, are brothers, whatever may be the land of their nativity.”

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

“Religious wars are basically people killing each other over who has the better imaginary friend.”

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

There is no known basis to attribute this saying to Napoleon. It is found (unattributed) in a Usenet post from July 1999 https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=soc.penpals/QIUrpkacWyE/FbCj7pij5WwJ. <br class="br">Misattributed

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

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

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)