A Leader Is A Dealer In

Compiled in Napoleon in His Own Words (1916), translated by Herbert Edward Law and Charles Lincoln Rhodes from Jules Bertaut's French collection of Napoleon's sayings drawn from his letters, proclamations, and recorded conversations. The maxim reflects Napoleon's understanding that sustained military and political loyalty required giving soldiers and citizens something to believe in beyond immediate circumstances — a principle he applied from his Italian campaigns of 1796 through his final communications from Saint Helena.