A Constitution should be short and obscure.
A leader is a dealer in hope.
A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.
A true man hates no one.
Ability is nothing without opportunity.
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
An army marches on its stomach.
Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.
Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
History is a set of lies agreed upon.
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.
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.
If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.
In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.
It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.
Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.
One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.
One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.
Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.
Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.
Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.
The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.
The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.
The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.
The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.
The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means.
The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.
The human race is governed by its imagination.
The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.
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.
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks.
True conquest are those - the only ones that leave no regret - are those that are wrested from ignorance
My power depends on my glory, and my glory, on my victories.
I had been nourished by reflecting on liberty but i thrust it aside when it obstructed my path
I always felt that Alexander the Great's idea of having descended from the gods was inspired by a sure instict for real politics.
I am the instrument of providence...she will use me and then break me like a glass.
A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
