The true policy of government is to make use of aristocracy, but under the forms and in the spirit of democracy.

The true wealth of a state consists in the number of its inhabitants, in their toil and industry.

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.

If the art of war were nothing but the art of avoiding risks, glory would become the prey of mediocre minds.... I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest.

The first quality of the commander-in-chief is a cool head to receive a correct impression of things. He should not allow himself to be confused by either good or bad news.

Whatever misanthropists may say, ingrates and the perverse are exceptions in the human species.

From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.