We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.

The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.

I would kiss a man’s ass if I needed him.

If you wish to be success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

The French complain of everything, and always.

We walk faster when we walk alone.

In politics… never retreat, never retract… never admit a mistake.

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

In our time none has the conception of what is great. It is up to me to show them.

Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.

Friends must always be treated as if one day they might be enemies.

The stupid speak of the past, the wise of the present, and fools of the future.

Six hours sleep for a man, seven for a woman and eight for a fool.

Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.

If I had not been born Napoleon, I would have liked to have been born Alexander.

War is the business of barbarians.

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.

A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

One must change one’s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.

It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy’s ranks.

If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon-shots.

The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of coloured ribbon.

Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.

Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self-interest.

I saw the crown of France laying on the ground, so I picked it up with my sword.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

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.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

It requires more courage to suffer than to die.

A true man hates no one.

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.

There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.

Men take only their needs into consideration – never their abilities.

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 fool has one great advantage over a man of sense; he is always satisfied with himself.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.

Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.

The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.

The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.

The human race is governed by its imagination.

A society without religion is like a vessel without compass.

Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.

Imagination rules the world.

Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.

Ability is of little account without opportunity.

Victory belongs to the most persevering.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

Until you spread your wings, you’ll have no idea how far you can fly.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go.

Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.

Once you have made up your mind, stick to it; there no longer any ‘if’ or ‘but’.

You become strong by defying defeat and by turning loss and failure into success.