Charles de Gaulle

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

“You'll live. Only the best get killed.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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?”

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

“The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.”

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

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

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

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