Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes
Flatterers and men of learning do not accord well with each other.
Bonaparte, Napoleon. The Maxims of Napoleon. Translated by J. A. Manning, A. L. Humphreys, 1903, p. 67.
This proverb probably originated during the golden age of Islamic scholarship when the Muslim world preserved and advanced the philosophy and science of the West. Such a value would likely not be espoused today by most Muslim clerics and leaders. Some say that this change is precisely why Islam is deteriorating.
Even sophisticated societies have anti-intellectual movements. This happened in revolutionary France, but also at times even in the United States. In 2012, for example, Rick Santorum a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination called President Obama a “snob” for wanting to enable all students to go to college. Santorum was appealing to an anti-intellectual movement in the country that distrusted intellectuals as “elites.”
Napoléon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader of Corsican descent. He rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, building a large empire that ruled over continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815. One of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. He remains one of the most celebrated and controversial political figures in human history.
