History is a myth that men agree to believe.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
Interpretation
Napoleon critiques religion as a tool to pacify the masses.
In this quote, Napoleon Bonaparte suggests that religion is often utilized by those in power to maintain control over the common populace. He implies that religious beliefs can be distractions or comforts that prevent people from questioning their circumstances or rising against authority, reflecting a cynical view of religion's role in society.
In practice
In a discussion about the role of religion in politics.
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.
Remember that rights are moral principles which define and protect a man's freedom of action, but impose no obligations on other men.
You need an infinite stretch of time ahead of you to start to think, infinite energy to make the smallest decision. The world is getting denser. The immense number of useless projects is bewildering. Too many things have to be put in to balance up an uncertain scale. You can't disappear anymore. You die in a state of total indecision.
A peace that depends on fear is nothing but a suppressed war.
Our most merciful Father, seeing us to be oppressed and overwhelmed with the curse of the law . . . sent his only Son into the world and laid upon him all the sins of all men, saying, 'You be Peter that denier, Paul that persecutor, blasphemer and cruel oppressor, David that adulterer, that sinner who ate the apple in Paradise, that thief who hung upon the cross, and briefly, you be the person who has committed the sins of all men. See therefore that you pay and satisfy for them.'
Today, as always, the people, no less than the courts, must remain vigilant to preserve the principals of our Bill of Rights, lest in our desire to be secure we lose our ability to be free.
No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.
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