Public esteem is the recompense of honest men.
A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
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.
To attach no importance to public opinion, is a proof that you do not merit its suffrage.
I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad soldiers; we will settle this matter by lunch time.
You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy’s ranks.
Much shedding of blood, many great actions, and triumphs, toil and perseverance are the end of all things human.
A true master of politics is able to calculate, down to the smallest fraction, the advantages to which he may put his very faults.
A great Nation should have a fixed Government, so that the death of one man should not overturn it.
Where the Government is weak, military sway prevails.
For the stability of the Government, the people should have a considerable voice in the elections.
In a great nation, the majority are incapable of judging wisely of things.
The sovereignty of the people is inalienable.
Great events ever depend but upon a single hair. The adroit man profits by everything, neglects nothing which can increase his chances; the less adroit, by sometimes disregarding a single chance, fails in everything.
If it had not been for the English I should have been emperor of the East, but wherever there is water to float a ship we are sure to find them in our way.
The most constant, the most powerful, and the most generous of all my enemies.
Governments keep their promises only when they are forced, or when it is to their advantage to do so.
Revolutions are good times for soldiers of talent and courage.
It is easier to brave and threaten, than to conquer an enemy.
Reprisals are but a sad resource.