“All great events hang by a hair. The man of ability takes advantage of everything and neglects nothing that can give him a chance of success; whilst the less able man sometimes loses everything by neglecting a single one of those chances.”
Napoleon Bonaparte (unverified)
Sometimes attributed to a letter of 26 Sept. 1797 (Passariano), following Napoleon as a General (1902) by Maximilian Yorck von Wartenburg. The letter in question contains no such passage, and the wording likely derives from later compilations such as Soullier’s Maximes et pensées de Napoléon (1832).
This quote is commonly attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, but I have not been able to locate a primary source. Use with caution in academic or professional contexts.
“That is just it, work is my element; I was born and made for it. I have found the limits of my legs; I have found the limits of my eyes; but I have never been able to find the limits of my labour.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte (verified, secondary source)“Everything tells me I shall succeed.”
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— Benjamin Franklin (verified)