Napoleon grasped something that more optimistic observers miss: that intellectual capacity alone cannot account for political success, because the rules governing power operate on a different logic than we expect. A man might bungle his reasoning, misread the room, or hold views we'd call foolish—yet still command followers and shape events, provided he possesses unwavering conviction and an instinct for what moves people. We see this plainly in modern politics, where candidates of questionable intellect sometimes outmaneuver more cerebral opponents simply by understanding their audience's actual concerns while the clever ones remain trapped in abstraction. What Napoleon recognized is that the marketplace of politics rewards certainty and connection over correctness.