"A quote- Did Napoleon actually say this?" Topic

Fellow TMPers – a quote often attributed to Napoleon is "Never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake"

Now, I have read that the Emperor said a variant of this on the eve of Austerlitz – but there is some debate that he actually did. There is a school of thought that says that John Milton was the one who said this, but I have two problems with this:

i) just doesn't sound like Milton

ii) it has been suggested as coming from Samson Agonistes (about line 559-561 or so) – and from what I can remember of Samson Agonistes (one of those horrible ordeals that constitute a classical education) there is nothing in it that corresponds to the quote

The opinions of the Napoleonic geniuses among the group are greatly appreciated

Indeed; where's the connection?

link

Allen

There certainly seems to be nothing like that in Samson Agonistes (I've searched through the text). This discussion page considers in some detail the idea that Napoleon said it or something like it: link

Cheers,

David
nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com

Isn't this quote usef in the film "Waterloo?"

It is!

Well, he damned well should have!

Oh yes one of Rod Steiger's best -it was on film, in colour so it must be true:

This was forwarded to me by a former TMPer; I hope I can get the formatting right!
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But perhaps the following will be of interest… "Attendons encore …. quand l'ennemi fait un faux mouvement, il faut se garder de l'interrompre." The quote appears to have been first published by the Baron de Jomini, in his "Vie politique et militaire de Napoléon" (1827). The quote itself:

link

Bio : link

The Baron de Jomini served as a volunteer aide-de-camp to Maréchal Ney during the 1805 campaign, going with him into the Tyrol after Ulm – and so was not at Austerlitz for the battle. However, he is often said to have arrived at the headquarters of the Grand Armée with despatches from Maréchal Ney on the day after the battle. For example:

link

Whether the quote is a colorful creation of the baron de Jomini over twenty years after Austerlitz, or whether he was so struck by someone telling him of such an utterance by Napoléon that he recalled it 20 years later, would be a question open to discussion.
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Thanks for that, Evan!

Allen

Like the pic of the late Rod Steiger.

We now need a caption competition – what is Nap saying?

How about "Did I turn the iron off…."

Bill

"You Klingon b*stards! You killed my son…!"

a dentist, a dentist, my empire for a dentist

"I had a bag…!"

Or, dare I….."KHAAAAAAAN!"

Great! Thanks to Allen for his ability to dig out the most hard to find facts – and to everyone for the insight, wisdom – and, of course, the humour

WellingTAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!!

If you remember in the movie Napoleon(Steiger) said "Never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake that's bad manners eh"

Captain Gideon

Thats is not a flattering picture of Steiger

Someone shot him with a phaser set to "Oh cr@p I left the oven on!".

"Zut alors! First zee fermer ghiles, now zee meegren!"

"What do you mean you didn't bring any bricoles?????"

The Gonk for the win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Merde! Where'd I put the Guard?"

"I'm taller than you think!"

"That Ney gives me a pain in the . . . "

"Mon Dieu, is that Blucher's elephant?"