Book detail: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut is presented as a focused source page for quotations connected with this book, collection, transcript, or source record.
This book presents a collection of personal correspondence, speeches, and other writings of Napoleon Bonaparte, translated from the original French by Jules Bertaut. It offers insight into the thoughts and actions of one of history's most influential figures, providing a firsthand account of his experiences and perspectives.
The quotes below use the same card format as the rest of the site, including topics, source notes, copy actions, image creation, and sharing controls.
Read more
“In revolution there are only two sorts of men, those who cause them and those who profit by them.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“It is the success which makes great men.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Who saves his country violates no law.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Imagination governs the world.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Large legislative bodies resolve themselves into coteries, and coteries into jealousies.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“The Turks can be killed, but they can never be conquered.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“In order not to be astonished at obtaining victories, one ought not to think only of defeats.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“The laws of circumstance are abolished by new circumstances.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Parties weaken themselves by their fear of capable men.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“The sentiment of national honor is never more than half extinguished in the French. It takes only a spark to re-kindle it.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Collective crimes incriminate no one.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Diplomacy is the police in grand costume.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“A man becomes the creature of his uniform.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“When a man is a favorite of Fortune she never takes him unawares, and, however astonishing her favors may be, she finds him ready.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“The merit of Mahomet is that he founded a religion without an inferno.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“How many really capable men are children more than once during the day!”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“In order that a people may be free, it is necessary that the governed be sages, and those who govern, gods.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Knowledge and history are the enemies of religion.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“If obedience is the result of the instinct of the masses, revolt is the result of their thought.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Rigorous authority and justice are the kindness of kings.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“In statesmanship there are predicaments from which it is impossible to escape without some wrongdoing.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Unhappy the general who comes on the field of battle with a system.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Every man who is worth thirty millions and is not wedded to them, is dangerous to the government.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“True heroism consists in rising superior to misfortune.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Adversity is the midwife of genius”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“The great difficulty with politics is, that there are no established principles.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“In politics nothing is immutable. Events carry within them an invincible power.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“In war, character and opinion make more than half of the reality.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Policemen and prisons ought never to be the means used to bring men back to the practice of religion.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“The division of labor, which has brought such perfection in mechanical industries, is altogether fatal when applied to productions of the mind. All work of the mind is superior in
proportion as the mind that produces it is universal.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“The populace judges of the power of God by the power of the priests.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“There is only one favorable moment in war; talent consists in knowing how to seize it.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“A commander in chief ought to say to himself several times a day: If the enemy should appear on my front, on my right, on my left, what would I do? And if the question finds him uncertain, he is not well placed, he is not as he should be, and he should remedy it.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“A book in which there were no lies would be a curiosity.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“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.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“An army which cannot be reenforced is already defeated.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Audacity succeeds as often as it fails; in life it has an even chance.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Democracy may become frenzied, but it has feelings and can be moved. As for aristocracy, it is always cold and never forgives.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Destiny urges me to a goal of which I am ignorant. Until that goal is attained I am invulnerable, unassailable. When Destiny has accomplished her purpose in me, a fly may suffice to destroy me.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Fanaticism must be put to sleep before it can be eradicated.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“From triumph to downfall is but a step. I have seen a trifle decide the most important issues in the gravest affairs.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“How many seemingly impossible things have been accomplished by resolute men because they had to do, or die?”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“Impatience is a great obstacle to success; he who treats everything with brusqueness gathers nothing, or only immature fruit which will never ripen.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“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.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“In war one must lean on an obstacle in order to overcome it.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“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.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“It is not necessary to prohibit or encourage oddities of conduct which are not harmful.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut
“It is often in the audacity, in the steadfastness, of the general that the safety and the conservation of his men is found.”
Source: Napoleon in his own words from the French of Jules Bertaut