Charles De Gaulle quotes

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

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

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

You'll live. Only the best get killed.

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

The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.

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

Old age is a shipwreck.

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

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?

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

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

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

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

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

I was France.