To him, living eternally in this thought, actuality disappeared in the future; wherever the hurricane of war may have swept him, France, above all things else, above all nations, filled his thoughts.

"What will my Athenians think ?" said Alexander, after Issus and Arbela.

"I hope the French will be content with me," said Bonaparte, after Rivoli and the Pyramids.
Before battle, this modern Alexander gave little thought to what he should do in case of victory, but much in case of defeat.

He, more than any man, was convinced that trifles often decide the greatest events; he was therefore more concerned in foreseeing such events than in producing them.

He watched them come to birth, and ripen; then, when the right time came, he appeared, laid his hand on them, mastered and guided them, as an able rider roasters and guides a spirited horse.
His rapid rise in the midst of revolutions and political changes he had brought about, or seen accomplished, the events which he had controlled, had given him a certain contempt for men; moreover, he was not inclined by nature to think well of them.