Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
One is more certain to influence men, to produce more effect on them, by absurdities than by sensible ideas.
A great reserve and severity of manners are necessary for the command of those who are older than ourselves.
I cannot believe there is a god who punishes and rewards, for I see honest folk unlucky, and rogues unlucky.
In tragedy great men are more truly great than in history. We see them only in the crises which unfold them.
Good and decent people must be protected and persuaded by gentle means, but the rabble must be led by terror.
When I had the honor to be a second lieutenant, I ate dry bread, but I never let anyone know that I was poor.
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
International incidents must not be allowed to shape foreign policy, foreign policy must shape the incidents.
Soldiers! Here is the battle you have so long desired! Henceforth victory depends on you; we have need of it.
I have made noise enough in the world already, perhaps too much, and am now getting old, and want retirement.
Man is entitled by birthright to a share of the earth's produce sufficient to fill the needs of his existence.
War must be made as intense and awful as possible in order to make it short, and thus to diminish its horrors.
Go Sir, gallop and don't forget that the world was made in six days. You can ask me for anything but not time.
I treat policies like war. I hoodwink one flank so as to trounce the other. In my family we kneel only to God.
The more I study the world, the more I am convinced of the inability of brute force to create anything durable.
I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad soldiers; we will settle this matter by lunch time.
Democracy, if it is reasonable, limits itself to giving everyone an equal opportunity to compete and to obtain.
The world soffers a lot. Not because the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of the good people.
True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat.
There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.
Much shedding of blood, many great actions, and triumphs, toil and perseverance are the end of all things human.
The true policy of government is to make use of aristocracy, but under the forms and in the spirit of democracy.
It is cowardly to commit suicide. The English often kill themselves. It is a malady caused by the humid climate.
Europe is a molehill. All great empires and revolutions have been on the Orient; six hundred millions live there.
I hope before long to press you in my arms and shall shower on you a million burning kisses as under the Equator.
Take a dose of medicine once, and in all probability you will be obliged to take an additional hundred afterwards
Those who have changed the universe have never done it by changing officials, but always by inspiring the people.
The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment.
Wisdom and policy dictate that we must do as destiny demands and keep peace with the irresistible march of events.
The art of choosing men is not nearly so difficult as the art of enabling those chosen to attain their full worth.
Terrorism, War & Bankruptcy are caused by the privatization of money, issued as a debt and compounded by interest.
No one but myself can be blamed for my fall. I have been my own greatest enemy-the cause of my own disastrous fate.
True character stands the test of emergencies. Do not be mistaken, it is weakness from which the awakening is rude.
I don't employ Talleyrand when I want a thing done, but only when I want to have the appearance of wanting to do it.
From first to last, Jesus is the same; always the same--majestic and simple, infinitely severe and infinitely gentle.
No amount of money will induce someone to lay down their life, but they will gladly do so for a bit of yellow ribbon.
From triumph to downfall is but a step. I have seen a trifle decide the most important issues in the gravest affairs.
An army must have but one line of operations. This must be maintained with care and abandoned only for major reasons.
The fate of war is to be exalted in the morning, and low enough at night! There is but one step from triumph to ruin.
Conscription is the vitality of a nation, the purification of its morality, and the real foundations of all its habits
Moses has revealed the existence of God to his nation. Jesus Christ to the Roman world, Muhammad to the old continent.
It is an approved maxim in war, never to do what the enemy wishes you to do, for this reason alone, that he desires it.
In war, moral factors acount for three quarters of the whole; relative material strength accounts for only one quarter.
Since the discovery of printing, knowledge has been called to power, and power has been used to make knowledge a slave.
When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation
A constitution should be framed so as not to impede the action of government, nor force the government to its violation.
It is easy to know when a government wishes for peace by observing the character of the person sent to negotiate for it.
Do you know what is more hard to bear than the reverses of fortune? It is the baseness, the hideous ingratitude, of man.
How many things apparently impossible have nevertheless been performed by resolute men who had no alternative but death.