All becomes easy when we follow the current of opinion; it is the ruler of the world.

Never depend on the multitude, full of instability and whims; always take precautions against it.

Mankind are in the end always governed by superiority of intellectual faculties, and none are more sensible of this than the military profession. When, on my return from Italy, I assumed the dress of the Institute, and associated with men of science, I knew what I was doing: I was sure of not being misunderstood by the lowest drummer boy in the army.

I made all my generals out of mud.

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

When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

I have noticed in every campaign that I have fought-that there is a key segment of time, somewhere between 13 and 15 minutes in which the battle is won or lost. I focus on that segment of time, and I win.