Among so many conflicting ideas an so many different perspectives, the honest man is confused and distressed and the skeptic becomes wicked ... Since one must take sides, one might as well choose the side that is victorious, the side which devastates, loots, and burns. Considering the alternative, it is better to eat than to be eaten.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- In chaotic times, honest people suffer while cynics thrive; survival often favors joining the winning side regardless of morality.
- In plain terms
- When things are chaotic, it is better to join the winners than to stay honest and get destroyed.
- What can you take from it?
- Survival sometimes requires aligning with power rather than sticking to principles.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is survival worth compromising your values?
- Can you ever truly join the victors without losing yourself?
Another view
This view justifies atrocities under the guise of necessity.
More from Napoleon Bonaparte
The hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.
Permalink to quote #24 Immortality is the best recollection one leaves.
Permalink to quote #26 Waterloo will wipe out the memory of my forty victories; but that which nothing can wipe out is my Civil Code. That will live forever.
Permalink to quote #23
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