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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.
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In war, moral factors acount for three quarters of the whole; relative material strength accounts for only one quarter.
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I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.
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The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.
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In a conquered country benevolence is not humanitarianism. It is a general political axiom that a conqueror must not inspire a good opinion of his benevolence until he has demonstrated that he can be severe with malefactors.
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The best way to make every one poor is to insist on equality of wealth.
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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.
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As for myself, I do not believe that such a person as Jesus Christ ever existed; but as the people are inclined to superstition, it is proper not to oppose them.
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It is only by prudence, wisdom, and dexterity that great ends are attained and obstacles overcome. Without these qualities nothing succeeds.
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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.
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I have destroyed the enemy merely by marches.
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When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.
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The only conquests that are permanent and leave no regrets are our conquests over ourselves.
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Ambition never is in a greater hurry than I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.
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Remember, gentlemen, what a Roman emperor said: The corpse of an enemy always smells sweet.
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Strong coffee, much strong coffee, is what awakens me. Coffee gives me warmth, waking, an unusual force and a pain that is not without very great pleasure.
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As for me, to love you alone, to make you happy, to do nothing which would contradict your wishes, this is my destiny and the meaning of my life.
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The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
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He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
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The most dangerous moment comes with victory.
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If you know a country's geography, you can understand and predict its foreign policy.
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Unity of command is essential to the economy of time. Warfare in the field was like a siege: by directing all one's force to a single point a breach might be made, and the equilibrium of opposition destroyed.
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We walk faster when we walk alone.
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Kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied.