Memoirs of Napoleon, V1, by Bourrienne [NB#01][nb01v10.txt]3551
Memoirs of Napoleon, V2, by Bourrienne [NB#02][nb02v10.txt]3552
Memoirs of Napoleon, V3, by Bourrienne [NB#03][nb03v10.txt]3553
Memoirs of Napoleon, V4, by Bourrienne [NB#04][nb04v10.txt]3554
Memoirs of Napoleon, V5, by Bourrienne [NB#05][nb05v10.txt]3555
Memoirs of Napoleon, V6, by Bourrienne [NB#06][nb06v10.txt]3556
Memoirs of Napoleon, V7, by Bourrienne [NB#07][nb07v10.txt]3557
Memoirs of Napoleon, V8, by Bourrienne [NB#08][nb08v10.txt]3558
Memoirs of Napoleon, V9, by Bourrienne [NB#09][nb09v10.txt]3559
Memoirs of Napoleon, V10, by Bourrienne [NB#10][nb10v10.txt]3560
Memoirs of Napoleon, V11, by Bourrienne [NB#11][nb11v10.txt]3561
Memoirs of Napoleon, V12, by Bourrienne [NB#12][nb12v10.txt]3562
Memoirs of Napoleon, V13, by Bourrienne [NB#13][nb13v10.txt]3563
Memoirs of Napoleon, V14, by Bourrienne [NB#14][nb14v10.txt]3564
Memoirs of Napoleon, V15, by Bourrienne [NB#15][nb15v10.txt]3565
Memoirs of Napoleon, V16, by Bourrienne [NB#16][nb16v10.txt]3566
Complete Memoirs of Napoleon, by Bourrienne[NB#17][nb17v10.txt]3567
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V1, by Bourrienne
[nb01v10.txt]3551
His superiors, who were anxious to get rid of him
Josephine: Readily laughed at her own credulity
Not always agreeable that every truth should be told
Opinion of posterity is the real immortality of the soul
Passions are always bad counsellors
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V2, by Bourrienne
[nb02v10.txt]3552
Bonaparte was a creator in the art of war
Leave ordinary letters for three weeks in the basket
Occupied with what he was thinking of than with what was said
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V3, by Bourrienne
[nb03v10.txt]3553
Always meet your enemies with a bold face
Least benefit which accrues inspires the hope of a new
Look upon religions as the work of men
Napoleon loved only men with strong passions and great weakness
Religions a powerful engine of government
We never know what we wish for
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V4, by Bourrienne
[nb04v10.txt]3554
Doctrine of indefinite perfectibility
Ideologues
Men were only to be governed by fear and interest
Moliere's--"I pardon you, but you shall pay me for this!"
Police, catch only fools
Trifles often decide the greatest events
Two levers for moving men,--interest and fear
Well-bred ladies can tell falsehoods without seeming to do so
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V5, by Bourrienne
[nb05v10.txt]3555
Calumny has such powerful charms
Die young, and I shall have some consolatory reflection
Immortality is the recollection one leaves
Most celebrated people lose on a close view
Religion is useful to the Government
The boudoir was often stronger than the cabinet
To leave behind him no traces of his existence
Treaty, according to custom, was called perpetual
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V6, by Bourrienne
[nb06v10.txt]3556
Ability in making it be supposed that he really possessed talent
Absurdity of interfering with trifles
Admired him more for what he had the fortitude not to do
Animated by an unlucky zeal
Ideologues
Put some gold lace on the coats of my virtuous republicans
Trifles honoured with too much attention
Were made friends of lest they should become enemies
Would enact the more in proportion as we yield
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V7, by Bourrienne
[nb07v10.txt]3557
Malice delights to blacken the characters of prominent men
Manufacturers of phrases
More glorious to merit a sceptre than to possess one
Necessary to let men and things take their course
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V8, by Bourrienne
[nb08v10.txt]3558
An old man's blessing never yet harmed any one
Buried for the purpose of being dug up
Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied
Something so seductive in popular enthusiasm
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V9, By Bourrienne
[nb09v10.txt]3559
Always proposing what he knew could not be honourably acceded to
Cause of war between the United States and England
Conquest can only be regarded as the genius of destruction
Demand everything, that you may obtain nothing
Submit to events, that he might appear to command them
Tendency to sell the skin of the bear before killing him
When a man has so much money he cannot have got it honestly
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V10, By Bourrienne
[nb10v10.txt]3560
I have made sovereigns, but have not wished to be one myself
Go to England The English like wrangling politicians
Let women mind their knitting
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V11, By Bourrienne
[nb11v10.txt]3561
A sect cannot be destroyed by cannon-balls
Every time we go to war with them we teach them how to beat us
God in his mercy has chosen Napoleon to be his representative on earth
The wish and the reality were to him one and the same thing
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V12, By Bourrienne
[nb12v10.txt]3562
Treaties of peace no less disastrous than the wars
Yield to illusion when the truth was not satisfactory
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V13, By Bourrienne
[nb13v10.txt]3563
I almost fancy I am dreaming when I look back on the miraculous incapacity of
the persons who were then at the head of our Government. The emigrants, who,
as it has been truly said, had neither learned nor forgotten anything, came
back with all the absurd pretensions of Coblentz. Their silly vanity reminded
one of a character in one of Voltaire's novels who is continually saying, "Un
homme comme moi!" These people were so engrossed with their pretended
merit that they were blind to everything else. They not only disregarded the
wishes and the wants of France; which in overthrowing the Empire hoped to
regain liberty, but they disregarded every warning they had received.
M. de Talleyrand, accompanied by the members of the Provisional Government,
several Marshals and general officers, and the municipal body, headed by the
prefect of the Seine, went in procession beyond the barrier to receive
Monsieur. M. de Talleyrand, in the name of the Provisional Government,
addressed the Prince, who in reply made that observation which has been so
often repeated, "Nothing is changed in France: there is only one Frenchman
more."
This was the opinion which the mass of the people instinctively formed, for
they judged of the Emperor of Austria in his character of a father and not in
his character of a monarch; and as the rights of misfortune are always sacred
in France, more interest was felt for Maria Louisa when she was known to be
forsaken than when she was in the height of her splendour. Francis II. had not
seen his daughter since the day when she left Vienna to unite her destiny with
that of the master of half of Europe
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V14, by Bourrienne
[nb14v10.txt]3564
The facility with which the Ministers of Finance and of the Treasury provided
for all these expenses astonished everybody, as it was necessary to pay for
everything in ready money. The system of public works was at the same time
resumed throughout France. "It is easy to see," said the workmen, "that 'the
great contractor' is returned; all was dead, now everything revives."
One of the most important struggles of modern times was now about to commence--
a struggle which for many years was to decide the fate of Europe. Napoleon and
Wellington at length stood opposite one another. They had never met; the
military reputation of each was of the highest kind.
On one occasion he ordered his camp-bed to be displayed for the inspection of
the English officers. In two small leather packages were comprised the couch
of the once mighty ruler of the Continent. The steel bedstead which, when
folded up, was only two feet long, and eighteen inches wide, occupied one case,
while the otter contained the mattress and curtains. The whole was so
contrived as to be ready for use in three minutes.
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V15, by Bourrienne
[nb15v10.txt]3565
In 1812 Jerome was given the command of the right wing of the Grand Army in its
advance against Russia, but he did not fulfil the expectations of his brother,
and Davoust took the command instead. Every king feels himself a born general:
whatever else they cannot do, war is an art which comes with the crown, and
Jerome, unwilling to serve under a mere Marshal, withdrew in disgust. In 1813
he had the good feeling and the good sense to refuse the treacherous offer of
the Allies to allow him to retain his kingdom if he joined them against his
brother, a snare his sister Caroline fell into at Naples.
Having returned to private life solely on account of Fouche's presence in the
Ministry, I yielded to that consolation which is always left to the
discontented. I watched the extravagance and inconsistency that were passing
around me, and the new follies which were every day committed; and it must be
confessed that a rich and varied picture presented itself to my observation.
The reintroduction of much that was bad in the old system (one country even
going so far as to re-establish torture), the steady attack on liberty and on
all liberal ideas, Wurtemberg being practically the only State which grumbled
at the tightening of the reins so dear to Metternich,--all formed a fitting
commentary on the proclamations by which the Sovereigns had hounded on their
people against the man they represented as the one obstacle to the freedom and
peace of Europe.
MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, V16, by Bourrienne
[nb16v10.txt]3566
Every one cannot be an atheist who pleases
Grew more angry as his anger was less regarded
I do not live--I merely exist
Strike their imaginations by absurdities than by rational ideas
Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others
COMPLETE MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, by Bourrienne
[nb17v10.txt]3567
Always proposing what he knew could not be honourably acceded to
Cause of war between the United States and England
Conquest can only be regarded as the genius of destruction
Demand everything, that you may obtain nothing
Submit to events, that he might appear to command them
Tendency to sell the skin of the bear before killing him
When a man has so much money he cannot have got it honestly
I have made sovereigns, but have not wished to be one myself
Go to England The English like wrangling politicians
Let women mind their knitting
A sect cannot be destroyed by cannon-balls
Every time we go to war with them we teach them how to beat us
God in his mercy has chosen Napoleon to be his representative on earth
The wish and the reality were to him one and the same thing
Treaties of peace no less disastrous than the wars
Yield to illusion when the truth was not satisfactory
Every one cannot be an atheist who pleases
Grew more angry as his anger was less regarded
I do not live--I merely exist
Strike their imaginations by absurdities than by rational ideas
Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others