Bonaparte Quotes

“In the genesis of the myth, neither the role of fabrication nor that of propaganda should be exaggerated. Besides, the effectiveness of the latter generally depends on the consent of those to whom it is addressed; it does not have the power to govern minds, and even in the most authoritarian regimes it is to the police, rather than to propaganda, that the absence of any dissident voice must be attributed.”
― Patrice Gueniffey, Bonaparte: 1769-1802

“When, on getting out of bed, a man does not know what to do and drags his boring existence from one place to the next; when, in contemplating the future, he always sees a dreadful monotony, every day resembling the other; when he asks himself: why was I created?, that man, in my opinion, is the most miserable of all. His body breaks down, his heart loses the energy so natural in man. How does it manage to exist, this empty heart? It is to lead the life of brutes with the moral faculties that are peculiar to our nature. How happy he would be did he not possess these faculties!”
― Patrice Gueniffey, Bonaparte: 1769-1802

“philosopher Joubert was to regret the disappearance of the old schools: They were in fact small, elementary universities. In them, students received a very complete primary education.… There were chairs of philosophy and mathematics, subjects by which so much store is set; history, geography, and other branches of knowledge about which people talk played a role, not prominently and with fanfare, as they do today, but secretly and surreptitiously, so to speak. They were fused, insinuated, and conveyed with other subjects.… A little of everything was taught and … the chords of every disposition were sounded. Every mind was urged to know itself, and all talents to be developed. Taught rather slowly, with little ceremony and almost imperceptibly, students thought they knew little, and remained modest.… They left the old schools knowing they were ignorant and ignorant of what they knew. They departed eager to learn more, and full of love and respect for men they thought were learned.52”
― Patrice Gueniffey, Bonaparte: 1769-1802

“[but] the idea of Bonaparte was in the world before he was there in person: it secretly shook the earth. In 1789, when Bonaparte appeared, people felt something tremendous, an anxiety they could not account for.”25”
― Patrice Gueniffey, Bonaparte: 1769-1802