Nothing is more difficult and therefore more precious than to be able to decide.
~ Napoléon Bonaparte
There are two levers for moving men - interest and fear.
A leader is a dealer in hope.
Victory belongs to the most persevering.
This man Wellington is so stupid he does not know when he is beaten and goes on fighting.
You may ask me for anything you like except time.
Time is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at and who steals what is most precious to men.
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 strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
Circumstances-what are circumstances? I make circumstances.
If you start to take Vienna - take Vienna.
War is the business of barbarians.
You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.
An army marches on its stomach.
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.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.
Women are nothing but machines for producing children.
The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.
The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.
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.
What is history but a fable agreed upon?
Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.
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.
One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.
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.
There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.
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.
Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.
Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.
