Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, later Napoléon Bonaparte) was a French military and political leader who had significant impact on modern European history. He was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as Premier Consul of the French Republic, Empereur des Français, King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine.
Born in Corsica and trained in mainland France as an artillery officer, he first rose to prominence as a general of the French Revolution, leading several successful campaigns against the First Coalition and the Second Coalition arrayed against France. In late 1799, Napoleon staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later he became the Emperor of the French. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, he turned the armies of France against almost every major European power, dominating continental Europe through a lengthy streak of military victories—epitomized through battles such as Austerlitz and Friedland—and through the formation of extensive alliance systems. He appointed close friends and several members of his family as monarchs and important government figures of French-dominated states.
The disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812 marked a turning point in Napoleon's fortunes. The campaign wrecked the Grande Armée, which never regained its previous strength. In October 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at Leipzig and then invaded France. The coalition forced Napoleon to abdicate in April 1814, exiling him to the island of Elba. Less than a year later, he returned to France and regained control of the government in the Hundred Days (les Cent Jours) prior to his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Napoleon spent the remaining six years of his life under British supervision on the island of St. Helena. Napoleon developed relatively few military innovations, although his placement of artillery into batteries and the elevation of the army corps as the standard all-arms unit have become accepted doctrines in virtually all large modern armies. He drew his best tactics from a variety of sources and scored several major victories with a modernized and reformed French army. His campaigns are studied at military academies all over the world and he is widely regarded as one of history's greatest commanders. Aside from his military achievements, Napoleon is also remembered for the establishment of the Napoleonic Code (Code Napoléon), which laid the bureaucratic foundations for the modern French state.
“Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.”
“From triumph to downfall there is but one step. I have noted that, in the most momentous occasions, mere nothings have always decided the outcome of the greatest events.”
“Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu'un long discours (A good sketch is better than a long speech)”
“Ability is of little account without opportunity.”
“I make my battle plans from the spirit of my sleeping soldiers”
“I have seen only yoU, I have admired only yoU, I desire only You”
“Глупакът има голямо предимство пред образования човек: той винаги е доволен от себе си”
“The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.”
“You don't govern men who don't have religion, you shoot them.”
“A leader is a dealer in hope.”
“Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.”
“This soldier, I realized, must have had friends at home and in his regiment; yet he lay there deserted by all except his dog. I looked on, unmoved, at battles which decided the future of nations. Tearless, I had given orders which brought death to thousands. Yet here I was stirred, profoundly stirred, stirred to tears. And by what? By the grief of one dog.'Napoleon Bonaparte, on finding a dog beside the body of his dead master, licking his face and howling, on a moonlit field after a battle. Napoleon was haunted by this scene until his own death.”
“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.”
“Able was I ere I saw Elba”
“Qu'est ce que l'histoire, sinon une fable sur laquelle tout le monde est d'accord.”
“Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.”
“As for me, to love you alone, to make you happy, to do nothing which would contradict your wishes, this is my destiny and the meaning of my life.”
“You don't reason with intellectuals. You shoot them.”
“The hand that gives is among the hand that takes. Money has no fatherland, financiers are without patriotism and without decency, their sole object is gain.”
“Men are Moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.”
“The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.”
“History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.”
“Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.”
“The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.”
“Courage is like love, it must have hope for nourishment.”
“Imagination governs the world.”
“Conquests will come and go but Delambre's work will endure.”
“If we could read the past histories of all our enemies we would disregard all hostility for them.”
“History is written by the winners.”
“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.”
“The only victory over love is flight.”
“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.”
“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.”
“To write history one must be more than a man, since the author who holds the pen of this great justiciary must be free from all preoccupation of interest or vanity.”
“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”
“History is a set of lies agreed upon.”
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”