Having reviewed Napoleon the Great earlier this week (here), I thought I’d share some Napoleon quotes, drawn from his letters.

“read and re-read the campaigns of Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Gustavus Adolfus, Prince Eugene and Frederick the Great. This is the only way to become a great captain.”

“‘Do you know how I managed?’ Napoleon later recalled of this period of his life. ‘By never entering a café or going into society; by eating dry bread, and brushing my own clothes so that they might last the longer. I lived like a bear, in a little room, with books for my only friends … These were the joys and debaucheries of my youth.’”

“Had the French been more moderate and not put Louis to death, all Europe would have been revolutionized: the war saved England.”

“If you make war, wage it with energy and severity; it is the only means of making it shorter and consequently less deplorable for mankind.”

“Nothing is lost while courage remains.”

“The barbarous custom of having men beaten who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished…Torture produces nothing worthwhile. The poor wretches say anything that comes into their mind that the interrogator wishes to hear.”

“Law must do nothing but impose a general principle. It would be vain if one were to try to foresee every possible situation; experience would prove that much has been omitted.”

“If you want to dine well, dine with Cambacérès; if you want to dine badly, dine with Lebrun; if you want to dine quickly, dine with me.” (He would generally spend less than ten minutes at table)