But in spite of everything, that figure of the Emperor interests me as it interests the public.

I find character and life in it.

There is no poem or novel that is worth the Memoirs of Saint Helena, although it is written in ridiculous fashion.

What I think of Napoleon, if you wish to know, is that, made for glory, he had the brilliant simplicity of the hero of an epic poem.

A hero must be human.
Napoleon was human." "Oh, oh!" every one exclaimed.
But Paul Vence continued: "He was violent and frivolous; therefore profoundly human.