Napoleon Bonaparte

"Better to have a short life that is full of deeds than a long life spent in a state of uselessness."

"I have always said that a calm patience is the foundation of the spiritual life."

"The unique and supreme voluptuousness of love lies in the certainty of causing pain."

"I would rather lose Italy than lose my honor."

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to prevent oneself being cast into prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny."

"The only way to do great things is to love what you do."

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear."

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

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

"I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it."

"Great ambition is the passion of a great character."

"The man who has made no enemies has made no mark."

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

"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat."

"A leader is a dealer in hope."

"The best cure for the body is a quiet mind."

"History is a set of lies agreed upon."

"I formed my character through years of reading and meditation."

"The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind."

"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."

"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."

"Talent is a flame. Genius is a fire."

"Success is the most convincing talker in the world."

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

"Circumstances rule men; men do not rule circumstances."

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

"The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be averted."

"Retirement is the beginning of death."

"Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world."