Top 500 Napoleon Quotes (2025 Update)
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301. “People take England on trust, and repeat that Shakespeare is the greatest of all authors. I have read him: there is nothing that compares Racine or Corneille: his plays are unreadable, pitiful.”

— Napoleon

302. “Obedience to public authority ought not to be based either on ignorance or stupidity.”

— Napoleon

303. “Take a dose of medicine once, and in all probability you will be obliged to take an additional hundred afterwards.”

— Napoleon

304. “A man is not dependent upon his fellow creature, when he does not fear death.”

— Napoleon

305. “True character stands the test of emergencies. Do not be mistaken, it is weakness from which the awakening is rude.”

— Napoleon

306. “A man who has no consideration for the needs of his men ought never to be given command.”

— Napoleon

307. “We often get in quicker by the back door than by the front.”

— Napoleon

308. “A faithful friend is the true image of the Deity.”

— Napoleon

309. “The first method is that of a schemer and leads only to mediocre results; the other method is the path of genius and changes the face of the world.”

— Napoleon

310. “England would be better off without Canada; it keeps her in a prepared state for war at a great expense and constant irritation.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

312. “I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay their hands on everything they can get.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

314. “France needs nothing so much to promote her regeneration as good mothers.”

— Napoleon

315. “Unity of command is essential to the economy of time. Warfare in the field was like a siege: by directing all one’s force to a single point a breach might be made, and the equilibrium of opposition destroyed.”

— Napoleon

316. “No amount of money will induce someone to lay down their life, but they will gladly do so for a bit of yellow ribbon.”

— Napoleon

317. “Treason is a matter of dates.”

— Napoleon

318. “The greatest ornament of an illustrious life is modesty and humility, which go a great way in the character even of the most exalted princes.”

— Napoleon

319. “There are only two forces that unite men – fear and interest. All great revolutions originate in fear, for the play of interests does not lead to accomplishment.”

— Napoleon

320. “After making a mistake or suffering a misfortune, the man of genius always gets back on his feet.”

— Napoleon

321. “Friends must always be treated as if one day they might be enemies.”

— Napoleon

322. “When firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary.”

— Napoleon

323. “Every private in the French army carries a Field Marshall wand in his knapsack.”

— Napoleon

324. “Order marches with weighty and measured strides. Disorder is always in a hurry.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

326. “You can do anything with bayonets except sit on them.”

— Napoleon

327. “Battles are lost or won in 15 minutes.”

— Napoleon

328. “In war as in love, to bring matters to a close, you must get close together.”

— Napoleon

329. “Secrets travel fast in Paris.”

— Napoleon

330. “Public opinion is a mysterious and invisible power, to which everything must yield. There is nothing more fickle, more vague, or more powerful; yet capricious as it is, it is nevertheless much more often true, reasonable, and just, than we imagine.”

— Napoleon

331. “Ability is of little account without opportunity. I have very rarely met with two o’clock in the morning courage: I mean instantaneous courage.”

— Napoleon

332. “Tis a principle of war that when you can use the lightning, ’tis better than cannon.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

334. “The more I study the world, the more I am convinced of the inability of brute force to create anything durable.”

— Napoleon

335. “Patriotism is a word which represents a noble idea.”

— Napoleon

336. “Even when I am gone, I shall remain in people’s minds the star of their rights, my name will be the war cry of their efforts, the motto of their hopes.”

— Napoleon

337. “Cavalry is useful before, during, and after the battle.”

— Napoleon

338. “The first quality of the commander-in-chief is a cool head to receive a correct impression of things. He should not allow himself to be confused by either good or bad news.”

— Napoleon

339. “Good and decent people must be protected and persuaded by gentle means, but the rabble must be led by terror.”

— Napoleon

340. “Machiavelli is right: one always must live with one’s friends with the idea that they may turn into one’s enemies. He should have said, with everyone.”

— Napoleon

341. “The art of being sometimes audacious and sometimes very prudent is the secret of success.”

— Napoleon

342. “Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.”

— Napoleon

343. “I make my battle plans from the spirit of my sleeping soldiers.”

— Napoleon

344. “Half of the people in the world are below average.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

346. “It’s not the size of the army but the power within the army.”

— Napoleon

347. “It strengthens the bonds between nations to have the same civil laws and the same monetary system.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

349. “Public morals are natural complement of all laws they are by themselves an entire code.”

— Napoleon

350. “The allies we gain by victory will turn against us upon the bare whisper of our defeat.”

— Napoleon