Charles de Gaulle Quotes

Deliberation is the work of many men. Action, of one alone.

Soyons fermes, purs et fidèles ; au bout de nos peines, il y a la plus grande gloire du monde, celle des hommes qui n'ont pas cédé. [Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there is the greatest glory of the world, that of the men who did not give in.]

When I am right, I get angry. Churchill gets angry when he is wrong. We are angry at each other much of the time.

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

It will not be any European statesman who will unite Europe: Europe will be united by the Chinese.

China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese.

A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless.

Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.

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

I have heard your views. They do not harmonize with mine. The decision is taken unanimously.

Politics, when it is an art and a service, not an exploitation, is about acting for an ideal through realities.

Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses; they last while they last.

There can be no prestige without mystery, for familiarity breeds contempt.

Old age is a shipwreck.

The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.

You start out giving your hat, then you give your coat, then your shirt, then your skin and finally your soul.

In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.

Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.

I respect only those who resist me, but I cannot tolerate them.

You'll live. Only the best get killed.

As an adolescent I was convinced that France would have to go through gigantic trials, that the interest of life consisted in one day rendering her some signal service and that I would have the occasion to do so.

Church is the only place where someone speaks to me and I do not have to answer back.

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

For glory gives herself only to those who have always dreamed of her.

My dear and old country, here we are once again together faced with a heavy trial.

No nation has friends only interests.

To govern is always to choose among disadvantages.

Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.

How can one conceive of a one-party system in a country that has over two hundred varieties of cheese?

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.

Authority doesn't work without prestige, or prestige without distance.