Napoleon was calm under pressure

Napoleon had a famously unstable personality, he could blow up at a moment’s notice. But in times of danger, difficulty, or misfortune, he was the master of his nerves. Nobody could tell if a storm was brewing or everything was perfectly fine - in the worst of times he was the best version of himself. He called it self-control and he was very proud of his ultimate cultivation of this characteristic.

“He seemed to me wearied, worried, but not disheartened, I had often seen him lose his temper about some trifle such as a door opened when it should have been shut or vice versa, a room too brightly or too dimly lighted. But in times of difficulty or misfortune he was completely master of his nerves.”

“In my own case it’s taken me years to cultivate self-control to prevent my emotions from betraying themselves. Only a short time ago I was the conqueror of the world, commanding the largest and finest army of modern times. That’s all gone now! To think I kept all my composure, I might even say preserved my unvarying high spirits. Yet don’t think that my heart is less sensitive than those of other men. I’m a very kind man but since my earliest youth I have devoted myself to silencing that chord within me that never yields a sound now. If anyone told me when I was about to begin a battle that my mistress whom I loved to distraction was breathing her last, it would leave me cold. Yet my grief would be just as great as if I’d given way to it. and after the battle I should mourn my mistress if I had the time. Without all this self-control, do you think I could have done all I’ve done?”