A biography for Charles de Gaullehasn’t been written yet.
“Old age is a shipwreck.”
“To govern is always to choose among disadvantages.”
“I respect only those who resist me, but I cannot tolerate them.”
“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.”
“How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?”
“One does not arrest Voltaire.”
“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.”
“Deliberation is the work of many men. Action, of one alone.”
“I grew up to always respect authority and respect those in charge.”
“How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?”
“You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.”
“A man of character finds a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realize his potentialities.”
“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”
“I have heard your views. They do not harmonize with mine. The decision is taken unanimously.”
“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.”
“You'll live. Only the best get killed.”
“Always choose the most difficult way, there you will not meet competitors.”
“Treaties are like roses and young girls. They last while they last.”
“The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.”