Napoleon Bonaparte on Priorities Quotes

"Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self-interest."

"I have only one passion, only one mistress: France."

"You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war."

"A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon."

"The true character of a man always reveals itself in great circumstances."

"Great men are meteors designed to burn so that earth may be lighted."

"If you want a thing done well, do it yourself."

"Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them."

"He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat."

"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."

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

"If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god."

"One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority."

"Ability is of little account without opportunity."

"Water, air, and cleanliness are the chief articles in my pharmacopoeia."

"The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies."

"Concentration of force at the decisive point is the secret of victory."

"One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent."

"A leader is a dealer in hope."

"The art of war is a simple art; everything is in the execution; there is nothing vague about it; everything is common sense."

"The art of war consists in having more force than the enemy at the point of attack or at the point where one is attacked."

"The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want now."

"Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools."

"Circumstances—what are circumstances? I make circumstances."

"In war, as in love, we must come to close quarters to finish."

"In war, the moral is to the physical as three to one."

"A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights."

"The only victory over love is flight."

"Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in."

"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide."

"I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other."

"Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets."