Duke of Wellington Men Quotations

I used to say of Napoleon that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.

When other Generals make mistakes their armies are beaten; when I get into a hole, my men pull me out of it.

During the Peninsula War, I heard a Portuguese general address his troops before a battle with the words, "Remember men, you are Portuguese!

It is very true that I have said that I considered Napoleon's presence in the field equal to forty thousand men in the balance. This is a very loose way of talking; but the idea is a very different one from that of his presence at a battle being equal to a reinforcement of forty thousand men.

Call on a business man only at business times, and on business; transact your business, and go about your business, in order to give him time to finish his business.

As a member of the Protestant British squirearchy ruling Ireland, he was touchy about his Irish origins. When in later life an enthusiastic Gael commended him as a famous Irishman, he replied "A man can be born in a stable, and yet not be an animal.

I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wished are concerned

I used to say of him that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.