Quotes by Emperors - Page 3

We have resolved to endure the unendurable and suffer what is insufferable.
Emperor Hirohito
There is no man so blessed that some who stand by his deathbed won't hail the occasion with delight.
Marcus Aurelius
One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.
Napoléon Bonaparte
A cowardly act! What do I care about that? You may be sure that I should never fear to commit one if it were to my advantage.
Napoleon
Nothing befalls a man except what is in his nature to endure.
Marcus Aurelius
Courage is like love it must have hope for nourishment.
Napoléon Bonaparte
With audacity one can undertake anything.
Napoléon Bonaparte
As to moral courage I have very rarely met with the two o'clock in the morning kind. I mean unprepared courage that which is necessary on an unexpected occasion and which in spite of the most unforeseen events leaves full freedom of judgement and decision.
Napoléon Bonaparte
The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue courage is only the second virtue.
Napoléon Bonaparte
A man should remove not only unnecessary acts but also unnecessary thoughts for then superfluous activity will not follow.
Marcus Aurelius
If you start to take Vienna take Vienna.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Alexander Caesar Charlemagne and I myself have founded empires but upon what do these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love and to this very day millions would die for Him.
Napoleon
There is change in all things. You yourself are subject to continual change and some decay and this is common to the entire universe.
Marcus Aurelius
Why do we shrink from change? What can come into being save by change?
Marcus Aurelius
Hasten slowly.
Augustus Caesar
The bed has become a place of luxury to me! I would not exchange it for all the thrones in the world.
Napoleon
It is not death that a man should fear he should fear never beginning to live.
Marcus Aurelius
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
Napoléon Bonaparte
There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live.
Marcus Aurelius
Love only what befalls you and is spun for you by fate.
Marcus Aurelius
Here is a rule to remember when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not "This is a misfortune " but "To bear this worthily is good fortune."
Marcus Aurelius
Vex not thy spirit at the course of things they heed not thy vexation. How ludicrous and outlandish is astonishment at anything that may happen in life.
Marcus Aurelius
Ability is of little account without opportunity.
Napoleon
If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
Napoléon Bonaparte
You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.
Marcus Aurelius
All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike. All is ephemeral—both memory and the object of memory. The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you. Always reflect that soon you will be no one, and nowhere.
Marcus Aurelius
Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise.
Marcus Aurelius
…praise does not make anything better or worse.
Marcus Aurelius
Neither worse then nor better is a thing made by being praised.
Marcus Aurelius
A key point to bear in mind: The value of attentiveness varies in proportion to its object. You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve.
Marcus Aurelius
It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.
Napoléon Bonaparte
There is nothing more shameful than perfidious friendship.
Marcus Aurelius
Swiftly the remembrance of all things is buried in the gulf of eternity.
Marcus Aurelius
Ability is of little account without opportunity.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.
Marcus Aurelius
I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay hands on everything they can get.
Napoléon Bonaparte
There is no man so blessed that some who stand by his deathbed won't hail the occasion with delight.
Marcus Aurelius
Do not be ashamed of help.
Marcus Aurelius
And in the case of superior things like stars, we discover a kind of unity in separation. The higher we rise on the scale of being, the easier it is to discern a connection even among things separated by vast distances.
Marcus Aurelius
Salvation: to see each thing for what it is— its nature and its purpose.To do only what is right, say only what is true, without holding back.What else could it be but to live life fully— to pay out goodnesslike the rings of a chain, without the slightest gap.
Marcus Aurelius
As far as you can, get into the habit of asking yourself in relation to any action taken by another: "What is his point of reference here?" But begin with yourself: examine yourself first.
Marcus Aurelius
Accustom yourself not to be disregarding of what someone else has to say: as far as possible enter into the mind of the speaker.
Marcus Aurelius
The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
Marcus Aurelius
To God I speak Spanish, to women Italian, to men French, and to my horse - German.
Emperor Charles V
Men of great ambition have sought happiness . . . and have found fame.
Napoléon Bonaparte
A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.
Marcus Aurelius
Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the ruling part. Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not allowed; but as if thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and a network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See the breath also, what kind of a thing it is, air, and not always the same, but every moment sent out and again sucked in. The third then is the ruling part: consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial movements, no longer be either dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink from the future.
Marcus Aurelius
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
Napoléon Bonaparte
It is in your own power to maintain the beauty of your soul, or to be a decent human being.
Marcus Aurelius
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Napoléon Bonaparte
Men of learning in Milan have not enjoyed proper respect. They hid themselves in their laboratories and thought themselves lucky if . . . priests left them alone. All is changed today. Thought in Italy is free. Inquisition, intolerance, despots have vanished. I invite scholars to meet and propose what must be done to give science and the arts a new flowering.
Napoléon Bonaparte
All men are made one for another: either then teach them better or bear with them.
Marcus Aurelius
It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own.
Marcus Aurelius
Human life. Duration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: spinning around. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: uncertain. Sum Up: The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion.
Marcus Aurelius
There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter.
Napoléon Bonaparte
What am I but a little flesh, a little breath, and the thinking part that rules the whole?
Marcus Aurelius
Be your own master, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal creature.
Marcus Aurelius
Sexual ecstasy is like death. It is one of the secrets of nature’s wisdom.
Marcus Aurelius