"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."

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More quotes from: Charles de Gaulle

• "A great country worthy of the name does not have any friends. "
• "And don't forget to get killed. "
• "Authority doesn't work without prestige, or prestige without distance. "
• "China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese. "
• "Church is the only place where someone speaks to me and I do not have ..."
• "Deliberation is the work of many men. Action, of one alone. "
• "Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in ..."
• "Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's ..."
• "Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own ..."
• "For glory gives herself only to those who have always dreamed of her. "
• "France cannot be France without greatness. "
• "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war. "
• "Hearing Mass is the ceremony I most favor during my travels. Church is the only ..."
• "How can anyone govern a nation that has 246 different kinds of cheese? "
• "How can one conceive of a one-party system in a country that has over two ..."
• "How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese? "
• "How can you govern a country with two hundred and forty six varieties of cheese? "
• "I always thought I was Jeanne d'Arc and Bonaparte. How little one knows oneself. "
• "I grew up to always respect authority and respect those in charge. "
• "I have against me the bourgeois, the military and the diplomats, and for me, only ..."
• "I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be ..."

• "I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be ..."
• "I have heard your views. They do not harmonize with mine. The decision is taken ..."
• "I have tried to lift France out of the mud. But she will return to ..."
• "I might have had trouble saving France in 1946-I didn't have television then. "
• "I predict you will sink step by step into a bottomless quagmire, however much you ..."
• "I respect only those who resist me, but I cannot tolerate them. "
• "I was France. "
• "In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant. "
• "In politics it is necessary either to betray one's country or the electorate. I prefer ..."
• "In the tumult of men and events, solitude was my temptation; now it is my ..."
• "My dear and old country, here we are once again together faced with a heavy ..."
• "No country without an atom bomb could properly consider itself independent. "
• "Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if ..."
• "Now I shall return to my village and there will remain at the disposition of ..."
• "Old age is a shipwreck. "
• "Once upon a time there was an old country, wrapped up in habit and caution. ..."
• "One cannot govern with 'buts'. "
• "Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people ..."
• "Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. "
• "Silence is the ultimate weapon of power. "

• "Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken ..."
• "The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs. "
• "The graveyards are full of indispensable men. "
• "The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects. "
• "The leader must aim high, see big, judge widely, thus setting himself apart form the ..."
• "The national task that had been incumbent upon me for 18 years is hereby confirmed. "
• "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. "
• "There can be no prestige without mystery, for familiarity breeds contempt. "
• "To govern is always to choose among disadvantages. "
• "Treaties are like roses and young girls. They last while they last. "
• "Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses; they last while they last. "
• "When I am right, I get angry. Churchill gets angry when he is wrong. We ..."
• "When I want to know what France thinks, I ask myself. "
• "You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is ..."
• "You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think ..."
• "You start out giving your hat, then you give your coat, then your shirt, then ..."
• "You'll live. Only the best get killed. "