The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.
Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories.
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.
The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.
Clearly, the pleasures wines afford are transitory – but so are those of the ballet, or of a musical performance. Wine is inspiring and adds greatly to the joy of living.
The art of being sometimes audacious and sometimes very prudent is the secret of success.
One must change one’s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.
The secret of war lies in the communications.
If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.
The art of choosing men is not nearly so difficult as the art of enabling those chosen to attain their full worth.
Circumstances-what are circumstances? I make circumstances.
You can not lead a battle if you think you look silly on a horse.
All men of genius, and all those who have gained rank in the republic of letters, are brothers, whatever may be the land of their nativity.
I marvel that whereas the ambitious dreams of my self, Caesar, and Alexander should have vanished into thin air, a Judean peasant-Jesus-s hould be able to stretch His hands across the centuries and control the destinies of men and nations.
Envy is a declaration of inferiority.
Life is strewn with so many dangers, and can be the source of so many misfortunes, that death is not the greatest of them.
I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.
A man who has no consideration for the needs of his men ought never to be given command.
It is the success which makes great men.