A man is not dependent upon his fellow creature, when he does not fear death.
The life of a citizen is the property of his country.
To live, is to suffer; and the honest man is always fighting to be master of his own mind.
All the scholastic scaffolding falls, as a ruined edifice, before a single word: faith.
The friendship of a great man is a favor of the gods.
Whatever may be the position in life of a parent, it is his duty to share his crust with his children. If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
God! How men of letters are stupid.
Be successful! I judge men only by the results of their actions.
A people that is able to say everything, becomes able to do everything. The crowd which follows me with admiration, would run with the same eagerness were I marching to the Guillotine.
Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.
As for myself, I do not believe that such a person as Jesus Christ ever existed; but as the people are inclined to superstition, it is proper not to oppose them.
There is no class of people so hard to manage in a state, as those whose intentions are honest, but whose consciences are bewitched.
The art of government is not to let me grow stale.
My business is to succeed, and I’m good at it. I create my Iliad by my actions, create it day by day.
The barbarous custom of having men beaten who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men, by putting them to torture, produces nothing worthwhile.
Great ambition is the passion of a great character.
I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires, and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and whatever other religions the distance of infinity...
Reconnaissance memoranda should always be written in the simplest style and be purely descriptive. They should never stray from their objective by introducing extraneous ideas.
The public spirit is in the hands of the man who knows how to make use of it.
I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.