History is a myth that men agree to believe.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
Orders and decorations are necessary in order to dazzle the people.
Interpretation
Napoleon suggests that external symbols of power are important for impressing and influencing people.
In this quote, Napoleon Bonaparte emphasizes the significance of orders and decorations as tools for leadership and authority. He argues that these outward displays not only captivate the public but also serve to establish the legitimacy and respect of a leader. In essence, such symbols can enhance a leader's ability to command attention and devotion from their followers.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of leadership presence.
History is a myth that men agree to believe.
One must indeed be ignorant of the methods of genius to suppose that it allows itself to be cramped by forms. Forms are for mediocrity, and it is fortunate that mediocrity can act only according to routine. Ability takes its flight unhindered.
One can lead a nation only by helping it see a bright outlook. A leader is a dealer in hope.
We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.
Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.
It is my wish that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I have loved so well.
Peace comes when you talk to the guy you most hate. And that's where the courage of a leader comes, because when you sit down with your enemy, you as a leader must already have very considerable confidence from your own constituency.
When hiring key employees, there are only two qualities to look for: judgement and taste. Almost everything else can be bought by the yard.
My name is Mankiller, and in the old Cherokee Nation, when we lived here in the Southeast, we lived in semi-autonomous villages, and there was someone who watched over the village, who had the title of mankiller. And I'm not sure what you could equate that to, but it was sort of like a soldier or someone who was responsible for the security of the village, and so anyway this one fellow liked the title mankiller so well that he kept it as his name, and that's who we trace our ancestry back to.
If someone had told me I would be Pope one day, I would have studied harder.
Standing as I do, with my hand upon this staff, and under the folds of the American flag, I ask you to stand by me so long as I stand by it.
Leaders who refuse to listen, will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing helpful to say
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