“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
The Memorial of Saint Helena (Secondary source)
The Memorial of Saint Helena is a detailed account by Emmanuel de Las Cases of Napoleon Bonaparte’s reflections, conversations, and recollections during his exile on Saint Helena (1815-1816). Blending memoir, dialogue, and political philosophy, it offers an intimate portrait of Napoleon’s mind and became one of the most influential Napoleonic testimonies.
More about “The Memorial of Saint Helena” →
“At dinner, he told us that he was much better, and we pointed out to him, about this, that, for some time however, he had not been out, and had been working eight, ten, or twelve hours a day. That is just it, said he: 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
“Everything tells me I shall succeed.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte Primary source“Imagination rules the world.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte Secondary source“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 Disputed“The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte DisputedMore quotes by Napoleon Bonaparte →
“Lost time is never found again.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Necessity never made a good bargain.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“There was never a good knife made of bad steel.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If a man has failed, you will find he has dreamed instead of working. There is no way to success in our art, but to take off your coat, grind paint, and work like a digger on the railroad, all day and every day.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source