Childress Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 (edited) Who said the man couldn't turn a phrase? “Vengeance has no foresight.” “If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.” “Courage cannot be counterfeited. It is one virtue that escapes hypocrisy.” “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.” “He who cannot look over a battlefield with a dry eye, causes the death of many men uselessly.” “Imagination governs the world.” "Men are led by toys." “In order not to be astonished at obtaining victories, one ought not to think only of defeats.” “In politics nothing is immutable. Events carry within them an invincible power.” “One can lead a nation only by helping it see a bright outlook. A leader is a dealer in hope.” “One must change one’s tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.” “One must indeed be ignorant of the methods of genius to suppose that it allows itself to be cramped by forms. Forms are for mediocrity, and it is fortunate that mediocrity can act only according to routine. Ability takes its flight unhindered.” “Our credulity is a part of the imperfection of our natures. It is inherent in us to desire to generalize, when we ought, on the contrary, to guard ourselves very carefully from this tendency.” “Our hour is marked, and no one can claim a moment of life beyond what fate has predestined.” “The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.” “The laws of circumstance are abolished by new circumstances.” We frustrate many designs against us by pretending not to see them.” “It requires more courage to suffer than to die.” “A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of "colored ribbon. “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.” “Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.” “An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.” “I have only one counsel for you — be master.” “Character is victory organized.” “There are only two forces that unite men — fear and interest.” “There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.” “Send me 300 francs; that sum will enable me to go to Paris. There, at least, one can cut a figure and surmount obstacles. Everything tells me I shall succeed. Will you prevent me from doing so for the want of 100 crowns?” “History is a set of lies agreed upon.” “He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat.” “When I want any good head work done; I always choose a man, if possible with a long nose.” Edited August 3, 2016 by Childress 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 You missed one: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 Good one. Also, "One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent." You could fill several pages with Napoleon's pithy remarks. Poll: Who was the greatest aphorist? Hypothetical nominees- Oscar Wilde, La Rochefoucauld, Jonathon Swift.... Stalin came up with a few, deeply cynical, zingers. Hitler? Not so much. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 9 hours ago, Childress said: Hitler? Not so much. The one I most remember Hitler for is, "People will believe a big lie sooner than a small lie." That is both indicative of the depth of his cynicism and is unfortunately true. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 Pretty feeble, indeed. No doubt due to Hitler's diarrhetic mode of conversation. Compared to Stalin: "A single death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic" Gruesome, but punchy. It gets the job done. Or, George S. Patton: "Watch what people are cynical about, and one can discover what they lack". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 1 hour ago, Childress said: Or, George S. Patton: "Watch what people are cynical about, and one can discover what they lack". Georgie was a complex guy and, I think, deeper than he is often given credit for. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 (edited) Then there's the formidable longshoreman/philosopher Eric Hoffer, the likeliest rival to Napoleon in the sheer volume of pungent aphorisms. “We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.” “People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.” "Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.” “Anger is the prelude to courage.” “Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.” “The greatest weariness comes from work not done.” “It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence. We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression.” “Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a god, but never without a belief in a devil.” “What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds.” “The quality of ideas seems to play a minor role in mass movement leadership. What counts is the arrogant gesture, the complete disregard of the opinion of others, the singlehanded defiance of the world.” “We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.” “It is thus with most of us; we are what other people say we are. We know ourselves chiefly by hearsay. ” “Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.” Edited August 5, 2016 by Childress 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 Childress, Referring to decorations and awards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Honour Napoleon famously declared, "You call these baubles, well, it is with baubles that men are led... Do you think that you would be able to make men fight by reasoning? Never. That is good only for the scholar in his study. The soldier needs glory, distinctions, rewards."[5] This has been often quoted as "It is with such baubles that men are led." This is an extensive list of his maxims. http://www.napoleonguide.com/maxim_war.htm Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 Who's the author who said, "God is on the side of the big battalions". Voltaire? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 1 hour ago, Childress said: Who's the author who said, "God is on the side of the big battalions". Voltaire? Nope. That was our boy Napoleon. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 "It's an irony of history that those who lecture us about the unjust distribution of wealth have been the most pathetically inept at providing it." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StieliAlpha Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 A little off topic, but I like Frederik the Great at Kolin: "Rogues, do you want to live forever?" Great sentence. Unfortunately, the guys ran nevertheless. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StieliAlpha Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 And from Childress OP, number three is nice. It has so much actual relevance. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 4 minutes ago, StieliAlpha said: A little off topic, but I like Frederik the Great at Kolin: "Rogues, do you want to live forever?" Not off topic, at all. Right over the plate. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StieliAlpha Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 (edited) Ok then, add Frederik to your list. He made a few nice statements. My all time favourite: "In my country, everybody shall live up to his own liking." Well, he was wise enough to add some restrictions, but the fundamental idea was Great. Considering it came from an 18th Century monarch. Edited August 7, 2016 by StieliAlpha 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 (edited) 24 minutes ago, StieliAlpha said: And from Childress OP, number three is nice. It has so much actual relevance. You mean Hoffer? Also: 'It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor.' And: " The sick in soul insist that humanity is sick, and they are the surgeons to operate on it. They want to turn the world into a sickroom. And once they get humanity strapped to the operating table, they operate on it with an ax." Edited August 7, 2016 by Childress 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StieliAlpha Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Nope, I was thinking about a potential POTUS. But true, right now there are more than enough examples in Europe, too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 The unattributed 'unjust distribution of wealth' quote? That was mine. One could apply that sentiment to any number of commentators and political aspirants. But we mustn't venture into Politicsland. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) On 8/6/2016 at 0:44 AM, John Kettler said: This is an extensive list of his maxims. http://www.napoleonguide.com/maxim_war.htm Fine compendium. Here's one that's new to me: "Remember , gentlemen, what a Roman emperor said: The corpse of an enemy always smells sweet." Edited August 9, 2016 by Childress 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Re aphorisms from great generals, here's one from the Duke of Wellington that always made me smile: "Urinate every chance you get; once battle is joined, you may not get a chance for a very long time." Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Very colorful, ME- and practical! But a quick Google-fu came up nothing. Except a reference to Wellington Children's Hospital's urinary trauma ward. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Here's a favorite: 'The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.' -Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson adapted this all-too-true homily from Samuel Johnson. What Dr. Johnson said to Boswell was, "If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons." Emerson's version is actually more incisive, if not profound in its implications. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 A contemporary update to Emerson's remark: 'Those who engage in virtue signaling often lack genuine virtue.' 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 (edited) Christie's London has recently offered one of Napoleon's bicorne hats (above). Price: 500,000 pounds. It's said that Napoleon normally bought 4 dark green, velvet hats a year from Poupart & Cie, Paris. He detested hats off the production line assigning valets the task of breaking them in. The inner dimensions suggest that despite his short stature the Emperor had an unusually large head. The convention of the time was to wear these hats with their corners pointed forward and back, a la the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon wore his sideways allegedly to render his figure instantly identifiable on the battlefield, that style being forbidden to subalterns. Or was it a precocious example of clever branding similar to Churchill's cigar or Hitler's toothbrush mustache? Edited September 3, 2016 by Childress 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted October 15, 2016 Author Share Posted October 15, 2016 (edited) The cult of the Leader: Ceausescu in Romania, Fidel Castro in Cuba, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, the three generations - Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un in North Korea, Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, and the list goes on and on. In the crucial matter of marketing and branding, dictators compete,borrowing imagery: Every leader, demagogue or tyrant must be proficient at selling himself, cut through the noise and package his product. Hitler and the Nazis proved themselves marketing geniuses, beginning with the Swastika, a potent symbol. The Communists under Stalin surpassed their matchless pageantry in size, but not in style. Edited October 15, 2016 by Childress 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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