Charles de Gaulle

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

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

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

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

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

Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.

I have come to the conclusion that politics are 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.

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

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

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

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

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

The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.

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

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?

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.

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.

You'll live. Only the best get killed.

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