Top 500 Napoleon Quotes (2026 Update)
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301. “All Italians are plunderers.”

— Napoleon

302. “Bloodletting is among the ingredients of political medicine.”

— Napoleon

303. “Hereditary succession to the magistracy is absurd, as it tends to make a property of it; it is incompatible with the sovereignty of the people.”

— Napoleon

304. “In war the simplest manoeuvres are the best.”

— Napoleon

305. “Un croquis vaut mieux qu.”

— Napoleon

306. “The superior man is never in anyone’s way.”

— Napoleon

307. “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

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308. “A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

317. “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

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

— Napoleon

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319. “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

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

322. “Large legislative bodies resolve themselves into coteries, and coteries into jealousies.”

— Napoleon

323. “Die young, and I shall accept your death-but not if you have lived without glory, without being useful to your country, without leaving a trace of your existence: for that is not to have lived at all.”

— Napoleon

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324. “The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

326. “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

327. “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

328. “Treason is a matter of dates.”

— Napoleon

329. “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

330. “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

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

335. “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

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

338. “Secrets travel fast in Paris.”

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

340. “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

341. “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

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

344. “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

345. “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

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

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

— Napoleon

350. “Conscription is the vitality of a nation, the purification of its morality, and the real foundations of all its habits.”

— Napoleon

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