It was due in large
part to an extraordinary opportunity which French politics at that time
offered. But it was due, likewise, to certain characteristic qualities
of the young general. In the first place, he was thoroughly convinced
of his own abilities. Ambitious, selfish, and egotistical, he was
always thinking and planning how he might become world-famous.
Fatalistic and even superstitious, he believed that an unseen power was
leading him on to higher and grander honors. He convinced his
associates that he was "a man of destiny." Then, in the second place,
Bonaparte possessed an effective means of satisfying his ambition, for
he made himself the idol of his soldiers. He would go to sleep
repeating the names of the corps, and even those of some of the
individuals who composed them; he kept these names in a corner of his
memory, and this habit came to his aid when he wanted to recognize a
soldier and to give him a cheering word from his general. He spoke to
the subalterns in a tone of good fellowship, which delighted them all,
as he reminded them of their "common feats of arms.
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