“Everything is simple and definite; there is no much fixity of purpose that everyone wishes to comply. You are vassals, but free. I am your master but I will protect you. Five hundred pieces of ordinance and the friendship of France. Such is my will. Then it is all over.”
More from Napoleon
“Every moment lost gives an opportunity for misfortune.”
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“Never do what the enemy wishes you to do, for this reason alone, that he desires it.”
“At the commencement of a campaign, to advance or not to advance is a matter for grave…”