Arthur Wellesley,

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.

There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.

I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life.

Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.

Be discreet in all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious about any.

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.

Circumstances over which I have no control.

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