Impossible Is A Word To Be

The sentiment is associated with Napoleon's exile on Saint Helena (1815–1821), where Emmanuel de Las Cases recorded his near-daily conversations with the former Emperor. Las Cases' Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène, first published in 1823, became the founding text of the Napoleonic legend and is the principal source for many attributed Napoleon sayings. The exact "dictionary of fools" formulation does not appear verbatim in the text, and the Mémorial was revised by Las Cases and other Bonapartists before publication, making precise attribution difficult.