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Napoleon rewarded men with “baubles”

Napoleon rewarded his soldiers with medals, pensions, titles, flags, and they were hugely prized, far more so than any notion of self-sacrifice or revolutionary good. People might get interested in ideas, but they’re moved to action with rewards.

“I defy you to show me a republic, ancient or modern, in which distinctions have not existed. You call these medals and ribbons baubles; well, it is with such baubles that men are led.” - Napoleon


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