Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes

Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.

Turn a Christian society into an established church and it is no longer a voluntary assembly for the worship of God; it is a powerful corporation full of such sentiments and passions as usually distinguish these bodies: a dread of innovation, an attachment to abuses, a propensity to tyranny and oppression.

Once a ruler becomes religious, it becomes impossible for you to debate with him. Once someone rules in the name of religion, your lives become hell.

The religion that has to be supported by law is without value, not only, but a fraud and a curse. The religious argument that has to be supported by a musket is hardly worth making.

I cannot approve of monarchs who want to rule over the conscience of the people, and take away their freedom of choice and religion.

If a man wishes to have God recognized in the constitution of our country, let him read the history of the Inquisition, and let him remember that hundreds of millions of men, women, and children have been sacrificed to placate the wrath, or win the approbation of this god.

The clergy ... believe that any portion of power confided to me [as President] will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough, too, in their opinion.

A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it.

If Saddam were to be replaced tomorrow he would probably be replaced with someone who's just as bad or worse than he is.

Enlightened despots are mythical creatures; real despots seem more interested in stealing money or installing their sons after them.

Military dictatorship, you can focus on it, you can fight it directly. It's a band of power-driven people.

It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.

The more complete the despotism, the more smoothly all things move on the surface.

Whoever is new to power is always harsh.

Every one of the world's dictatorships can and does claim to be acting in the name of the people.

It's time to bury the unreal, failed 'realism' of those who have long thought that dictators brought stability.

Excessive dealings with tyrants are not good for the security of free states.

And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.

In bringing the subject of religious oppression to a wider audience, I didn't just want to kick the Catholic Church but to poke a finger in the throat of theocracy and to let it be known that people shouldn't tolerate this anymore.

It's the tyranny of an oligarchy that I'm concerned about.

I grew up in the shadow of the Trujillato, saw how the regime had ravaged so many families.

For 73 years a totalitarian regime ruled the country. Totalitarian regime.

Close alliances with despots are never safe for free states.

We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.

Dictators are interesting, no?