In our time no one has the conception of what is great. It is up to me to show them.
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.
I saw the crown of France laying on the ground, so I picked it up with my sword.
You would make a ship sail against the winds and currents by lighting a bonfire under her decks? I have no time for such nonsense.
I hope before long to press you in my arms and shall shower on you a million burning kisses as under the Equator.
A form of government that is not the result of a long sequence of shared experiences, efforts, and endeavors can never take root.
To listen to the interests of all marks an ordinary government; to foresee them marks a great government.
Chess is too difficult to be a game and not serious enough to be a science or an art.
I start out by believing the worst.
Battles are lost or won in 15 minutes.
A beautiful woman like eyes, and a good heart; One is a beautiful thing, and other treasures.
I treat policies like war. I hoodwink one flank so as to trounce the other. In my family we kneel only to God.
My success and everything good that I have done, I owe to my mother.
In the last analysis, one must be a military man in order to govern. It is only with boot and spurs that one can govern a horse.
Take a dose of medicine once, and in all probability you will be obliged to take an additional hundred afterwards.
I wish I could take a raincheck on June 18.1815.
The best medicine against the grapes of wrath is a whiff of grapeshot.
One must learn to forgive and not to hold a hostile, bitter attitude of mind, which offends those about us and prevents us from enjoying ourselves. One must recognize human shortcomings and adjust himself to them rather than to be constantly finding fault with them.
I do not believe it is in our nature to love impartially. We deceive ourselves when we think we can love two beings, even our own children, equally. There is always a dominant affection.
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.