Top 500 Napoleon Quotes (2026 Update)
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251. “A man is known by his conduct to his wife, to his family, and to those under him.”

— Napoleon

252. “I engage and after that I see what to do.”

— Napoleon

253. “To be believed make the truth unbelievable.”

— Napoleon

254. “Greatness be nothing unless it be lasting.”

— Napoleon

255. “Europe thus divided into nationalities freely formed and free internally, peace between States would have become easier: the United States of Europe would become a possibility.”

— Napoleon

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256. “Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.”

— Napoleon

257. “All the scholastic scaffolding falls, as a ruined edifice, before a single word: faith.”

— Napoleon

258. “God is on the side of the heaviest cannon.”

— Napoleon

259. “The logical end to defensive warfare is surrender.”

— Napoleon

260. “If you want to get on in this world make many promises, but don’t keep them.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

262. “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

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263. “The most terrible of all my battles was the one before Moscow. The French showed themselves to be worthy of victory, but the Russians showed themselves worthy of being invincible.”

— Napoleon

264. “Why and how are words so important that they cannot be too often used.”

— Napoleon

265. “An army of lions commanded by a deer will never be an army of lions.”

— Napoleon

266. “In war, three-quarters turns on personal character and relations; the balance of manpower and materials counts only for the remaining quarter.”

— Napoleon

267. “We are born, we live, we die among supernatural.”

— Napoleon

268. “It is neither holy, Roman or an empire.”

— Napoleon

269. “Independence, like honor, is a rocky island, without a beach.”

— Napoleon

270. “Women are nothing but machines for producing children.”

— Napoleon

271. “War must be made as intense and awful as possible in order to make it short, and thus to diminish its horrors.”

— Napoleon

272. “If I were to give liberty to the press, my power could not last three days.”

— Napoleon

273. “I have destroyed the enemy merely by marches.”

— Napoleon

274. “The heart of a statesman should be in his head.”

— Napoleon

275. “Variety made the Revolution. Liberty was just a pretext.”

— Napoleon

276. “I would believe any religion that could prove it had existed since the beginning of the world. But when I see Socrates, Plato, Moses, and Mohammed I do not think there is such a one. All religions owe their origin to man.”

— Napoleon

277. “Power is what they like – it is the greatest of all aphrodisiacs.”

— Napoleon

278. “Here, Gentlemen, a dog teaches us a lesson in humanity.”

— Napoleon

279. “Wine is inspiring and adds greatly to the joy of living.”

— Napoleon

280. “I shall be an Attila to Venice.”

— Napoleon

281. “The keys of a fortress are always well worth the retirement of the garrison when it is resolved to yield only on those conditions. On this principle it is always wiser to grant an honorable capitulation to a garrison which has made a vigorous resistance than to risk an assault.”

— Napoleon

282. “France has more need of me than I have need of France.”

— Napoleon

283. “I am the successor, not of Louis XVI, but of Charlemagne.”

— Napoleon

284. “Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.”

— Napoleon

285. “Lies circle the earth while Truth is still trying to put on its shoes.”

— Napoleon

286. “Nothing is so important in war as an undivided command.”

— Napoleon

287. “Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night.”

— Napoleon

288. “War justifies everything.”

— Napoleon

289. “Collective crimes incriminate no one.”

— Napoleon

290. “Peoples of Egypt, you will be told that I have come to destroy your religion. Do not believe it! Reply that I have come to restore your rights!”

— Napoleon

291. “What a beautiful fix we are in now; peace has been declared.”

— Napoleon

292. “I love a brave soldier who has undergone the baptism of fire.”

— Napoleon

293. “He who is unmoved by tears has no heart.”

— Napoleon

294. “A King should sacrifice the best affections of his heart for the good of his country; no sacrifice should be above his determination.”

— Napoleon

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295. “How many things apparently impossible have nevertheless been performed by resolute men who had no alternative but death.”

— Napoleon

296. “When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.”

— Napoleon

297. “I wish I could take a raincheck on June 18.1815.”

— Napoleon

298. “Lack is more in means, than in principles.”

— Napoleon

299. “It is exceptional and difficult to find in one man all the qualities necessary for a great general.”

— Napoleon

300. “Remember that a man, a true man, never hates. His rages and his bad moods never last beyond the present moment-like electric shocks.”

— Napoleon