“There are but two powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the mind”

The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment.

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.

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

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.

Courage cannot be counterfeited. It is one virtue that escapes hypocrisy.

All great events hang by a single thread. The clever man takes advantage of everything, neglects nothing that may give him some added opportunity; the less clever man, by neglecting one thing, sometimes misses everything.

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

The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.

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

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

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.

Success is the most convincing talker in the world.

A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.

Nothing is lost as long as courage remains

It’s the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory

We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.