A commander in chief ought to say to himself several times a day: If the enemy should appear on my front, on my right, on my left, what would I do? And if the question finds him uncertain, he is not well placed, he is not as he should be, and he should remedy it.

An army which cannot be reenforced is already defeated.

Morality has nothing to do with such a man as I am.

I pay attention only to what people do or say. I never pay attention to what they think.

A Constitution should be short and obscure.

The only conquests that are permanent and leave no regrets are our conquests over ourselves.

If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.