The Washington times., 1917-12-20
The Wisdom of
NapOleOn-No. il
The Fears of Others Did Not Bother Him. Let's Hope Our
Military Geniuses Are Studying Him.
81 CIRCUMSTANCES MAKE CIRCUMSTANCES
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.


=; =, ~GLRCyMSIAMCES- yA MAKE CIRCUMSTANCES"-
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
you suggest new and good idea to ten men, this
viii happen:
Five of the will reject the idea first because it is
new and second because they themselves did not think of it.
The next three Will consider the suggestion vaguely be
family impressed with it. but reject it. They will SAY that
they think the idea feasible In reality they will be
capable OF the mental effort necessary grasp fresh mental
processes
The ninth-very probably-win tell you that
else tried the idea before That some one ese failed
therefore you will fail and HE will time what
has been tried vainly.
If your TENTH man happens to be strong man, he
VIII make as much the idea as circumstances will permit
If he have NAPoLEoN'S character he will realize the
scheme DESPITE circumstances for this of Ma
poleon's true sayings
"crcumstanees-I mai circumstances"
He did boast when he said things of that sort There
was no "boast' in him. He said what was true.
You think of Napoleon flashing flaming genius. In
reality he first Of all of COMMON SENSE. He
saw things in their true proportions.
Madame Houdetot said of him:
history expands Imagination"
- And Lord Dudley said:
HE a al glory;
impossible"
It is difficult either with cold detailing of facts wild
est indulgence in hyperbole magnify Napoleons material
achievements.
But remember that his greatness best understood by
himself, is attributed by him.
First, to his common
Second the fact that he refuses to consider anohers
failure any proof that HE must fail.
s. Read Napoleon 8 campaigns
Napoleon won all his battles you will win yours, if
you win.
He Won His Victories By Studying HIS AdUersqries.
He PREPARED for victory by ignoring the fears and
doubts of Others relying his courage and common
sense
You know that Napoleon crossed the Alps with army
In the dead of winter You have pictures of him. alb
surdly posed in snowsorm the edge of precipce
draggle tailed horse eagle flying overhead.
But he did not pose there precipice, he kept
Many OF the abest military writers had said, AND
PROVED to the satisfaction of all but Napoleon that the
Alps could be crossed in winter Had those Alps?
kept back the savage hordes through centuries of winter?
Napoleon perfectly well knowing that he the great
est of in military wisdom rejected all talk and studied
the case for himself.
Then he crossed the Alps quite easily he had mapped
out the work And when done he talked of in
fashion saying: 81 deserve credit only for not
believing the fools that said it was impossible"
says Napoleon, unfavorabIe
passage lofty
nothing
high
there often cold
with extreme eaImness in the air."
simply. - '-' ''' wv ''-' N'''''- N-' ~
When Napoleon appeared if anything settled in the
minds of men, and especially of fighters, it this:
That Nothing Nep0 Remained To Be Discovered IN War
Napoleon, just for a change, did everything new
The general who tried to get hold of him felt as this
humble writer felt when he tried to catch lobster
under shelving rock in the English Channel and caught by
mistake smasize devish that had gone in after the
lobster ahead
little training will teach you to seize lobster before
he seize you But such training useless when you
prise devlfsh The of who dealt with Napoleon
went lobster hunting and found deVlfsh
Other generals for instance guided terrified and
controlled by their commissarie Napoleon organized his
then ignored it, in his usual calm way. He says:
what difficulty the profession of tho land
necessity feeding animals
IF HE ALLOWS HIMSELF TO BE GUIDED BY THE coMms-
sARIEs sTIR."