White ceramic mug–Imagination rules the world (Napoleon)

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a French military general and strategist who took Europe by storm following the French Revolution, conquering much of the continent only to eventually fall in 1815 after an onslaught by a coalition of European powers led by the United Kingdom, Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

Goethe spoke of Napoleon as a daimonic human, ‘the greatest military genius of all time’, and praised his ability to concentrate immense power. Goethe said: ‘Napoleon governed the world by his will alone… He was a man such as appears only once in a thousand years.’ Napoleon declared that ‘Imagination rules the world’, and in this way resonates with another great figure of history, Albert Einstein, who said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.’

Napoleon’s quote impels the greater evolution of humanity. It implies that if you can imagine an outcome, you can act on it, whereas if you can’t imagine that outcome you will not even consider acting on it. This type of visionary thinking can be applied to one’s own goals and dreams in life.