Quotes by Charles de Gaulle

“How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?”

“I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”

“Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.”

“Soyons fermes, purs et fidles ; au bout de nos peines, il y a la plus grande gloire du monde, celle des hommes qui n'ont pas cd. [Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there ...”

“Always choose the most difficult way, there you will not meet competitors.”

“France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war”

“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”

“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.”

“A man of character finds a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realize his potentialities.”

“Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”

“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.”

“Old age is a shipwreck.”

“You'll live. Only the best get killed.”

“I was France.”

“I have tried to lift France out of the mud. But she will return to her errors and vomitings. I cannot prevent the French from being French.”

“The sword is the axis of the world and its power is absolute.”

“The true statesman is the one who is willing to take risks.”

“The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.”

“You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination.”

“In politics it is necessary either to betray one's country or the electorate. I prefer to betray the electorate.”