There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.
— Napoleon Bonaparte
Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.
Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.
A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
An army marches on its stomach.
It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.
The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.
What is history but a fable agreed upon?
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.
If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
England is a nation of shopkeepers.
Victory belongs to the most persevering.
The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.
I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.
There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.
The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.
The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.
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.
Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.
There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
The extent of your consciousness is limited only by your ability to love and to embrace with your love the space around you, and all it contains.
The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.
The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.
You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.
A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.
A leader is a dealer in hope.
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
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.
One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.
Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.
Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
History is a set of lies agreed upon.
