Charles de Gaulle Quotes

I must say that if, on resuming control of our affairs, I embraced the Common Market forthwith, it was as much because of our position as an agricultural country as for the spur it would give to our industry.

When we were children, we often played war. We had a fine collection of lead soldiers. My brothers would take different countries: Xavier had Italy; Pierre, Germany. Or they would swap around. Well, I, gentlemen, always had France.

"Do you know that you have caused us more trouble than all the rest of our European allies?" "I do not doubt it. France is a great power."

It is better to have a bad method than to have none.

Le caractère, vertu des temps difficiles.

What England has done across the centuries and in the world is recognised as immense. Although there have often been conflicts with France, Britain's glorious participation in the victory which crowned the First World War—we French, we shall always admire it. As for the role England played in the most dramatic and decisive moments of the Second World War, no one has the right to forget it. In truth, the destiny of the free world, and first of all ours and even that of the United States and Russia, depended in a large measure on the resolution, the solidity and the courage of the English people, as Churchill was able to harness them. Even at the present moment no one can contest British capacity and worth.

Nothing builds authority up like silence, splendor of the strong and shelter of the weak.

How can you govern a country that has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?

Je suis un homme qui n'appartient à personne et qui appartient à tout le monde.

La difficulté attire l'homme de caractère, car c'est en l'étreignant qu'il se réalise lui-même.

At the root of our civilization, there is the freedom of each person of thought, of belief, of opinion, of work, of leisure.

Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays qui a deux cent quarante-six variétés de fromage?

France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war.

Certains même redoutaient que les Juifs, jusqu'alors dispersés, mais qui étaient restés ce qu'ils avaient été de tout temps, c'est à dire un peuple d'élite, sûr de lui-même et dominateur, n'en viennent, une fois rassemblés dans le site de leur ancienne grandeur, à changer en ambition ardente et conquérante les souhaits très émouvants qu'ils formaient depuis 19 siècles : l'an prochain à Jérusalem.

Now she is like the others.