Charles de Gaulle Quotes

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

Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.

It is not tolerable, it is not possible, that from so much death, so much sacrifice and ruin, so much heroism, a greater and better humanity shall not emerge.

Only peril can bring the French together. One can’t impose unity out of the blue on a country that has 265 different kinds of cheese.

In the tumult of men and events, solitude was my temptation; now it is my friend. What other satisfaction can be sought once you have confronted History?

No country without an atom bomb could properly consider itself independent.

No nation has friends only interests.

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

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

I grew up to always respect authority and respect those in charge.

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

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

Hearing Mass is the ceremony I most favor during my travels. Church is the only place where someone speaks to me and I do not have to answer back.

Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.

The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.

China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese.

We are not here to laugh.

You’ll live. Only the best get killed.

When I want to know what France thinks, I ask myself.

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

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.

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

I might have had trouble saving France in 1946 – I didn’t have television then.

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

France has lost the battle but she has not lost the war.

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

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

I was France.

A great country worthy of the name does not have any friends.

One does not arrest Voltaire.

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

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.

How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?

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