“Circumstances-what are circumstances? I make circumstances”

“The laws of circumstance are abolished by new circumstances.”

“As a rule it is circumstances that make men.”

“It is not true that men never change; they change for the worse, as well as for the better. It is not true they are ungrateful; more often the benefactor rates his favors higher than their worth; and often too he does not allow for circumstances. If few men have the moral force to resist impulses, most men do carry within themselves the germs of virtues as well as of vices, of heroism as well as of cowardice. Such is human nature — education and circumstances do the rest.”

“I make my battle plans from the spirit of my sleeping soldiers”

“What are the conditions that make for the superiority of an army? Its internal organization, military habits in officers and men, the confidence of each in themselves; that is to say, bravery, patience, and all that is contained in the idea of moral means.”

“You would make a ship sail against the winds and currents by lighting a bonfire under her decks? I have no time for such nonsense.”