If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.

One must change one’s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.

The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

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

To do all that one is able to do, is to be a man; to do all that one would like to do, is to be a god.

When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.

Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.

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

When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.

The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.

Ambition never is in a greater hurry than I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.

The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one’s self to destiny.

I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.

The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.

It is my wish that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I have loved so well.

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

There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.

I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.