Albert Camus, Lyrical and Critical (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1967), essays selected and translated from the French by Philip Thody, p. 104 https://archive.org/details/lyricalcritical0000camu/page/104/mode/2up?view=theater
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‘Do you know,’ Napoleon once said to Fontanes, ‘what fills me most with wonder? The powerlessness of force to establish anything. There are only two powers in the world: the sword and the mind. In the end, the sword is always conquered by the mind.’
— Albert Camus on Napoleon
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "‘Do you know,’ Napoleon once said to Fontanes, ‘what fills me most with wonder? The powerlessness of force to establish anything. There are only two powers in the world: the sword and the mind. In the end, the sword is always conquered by the mind.’" in the context of "Albert Camus, Lyrical and Critical (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1967), essays selected and translated from the French by Philip Thody, p. 104 https://archive.org/details/lyricalcritical0000camu/page/104/mode/2up?view=theater" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Napoleon" (Attributed)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Albert Camus
Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) was a French Pied-Noir author, absurdist philosopher and winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature.
About Albert Camus
Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) was a French Pied-Noir author, absurdist philosopher and winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature.
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