I don't employ Talleyrand when I want a thing done, but only when I want to have the appearance of wanting to do it.
History is the invention of historians.
History is a myth that men agree to believe.
The most constant, the most powerful, and the most generous of all my enemies.
If it had not been for the English I should have been emperor of the East, but wherever there is water to float a ship we are sure to find them in our way.
I shall be an Attila to Venice.
A battle sometimes decides everything; and sometimes the most trifling thing decides the fate of a battle.
History paints the human heart.
What is history but a fable agreed upon?
It is in times of difficulty that great nations like great men display the whole energy of their character and become an object of admiration to posterity.
History is written by the winners.