Charles de Gaulle

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

— Charles de Gaulle

No country without an atom bomb could properly consider itself independent.

— Charles de Gaulle

I am a man who belongs to no-one and who belongs to everyone.

— Charles de Gaulle

The national task that had been incumbent upon me for 18 years is hereby confirmed.

— Charles De Gaulle

Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.

— Charles de Gaulle

One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day was; one cannot judge life until death.

— Charles de Gaulle

How can one conceive of a one-party system in a country that has over two hundred varieties of cheese?

— Charles de Gaulle

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

— Charles de Gaulle

Whereas ordinary officers must be content with behaving correctly in front of their men, the great leaders have always carefully stage-managed their…

— Charles de Gaulle

I have against me the bourgeois, the military and the diplomats, and for me, only the people who take the Métro.

— Charles de Gaulle

I predict you will sink step by step into a bottomless quagmire, however much you spend in men and money." (On Vietnam…

— Charles de Gaulle

One can unite the French only under the threat of danger. One cannot simply bring together a nation that produces 265 kinds…

— Charles de Gaulle

In the tumult of men and events, solitude was my temptation; now it is my friend. What other satisfaction can be sought…

— Charles De Gaulle

You start out giving your hat, then you give your coat, then your shirt, then your skin and finally your soul.

— Charles de Gaulle

I have tried to lift France out of the mud. But she will return to her errors and vomitings. I cannot prevent…

— Charles de Gaulle

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

— Charles de Gaulle

Why do you think that at 67 I would start a career as a dictator ?

— Charles de Gaulle

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

— Charles de Gaulle

“France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war”

— Charles de Gaulle

Long live Montreal, Long live Quebec! Long live Free Quebec!

— Charles de Gaulle

I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.

— Charles de Gaulle

The cabinet has no propositions to make, but orders to give.

— Charles de Gaulle

The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.

— Charles de Gaulle

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

— Charles de Gaulle

The Jews remain what they have been at all times: an elite people, self-confident and domineering.

— Charles de Gaulle

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

— Charles de Gaulle

Politics, when it is an art and a service, not an exploitation, is about acting for an ideal through realities.

— Charles de Gaulle

Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it,…

— Charles de Gaulle

Betting against gold is the same as betting on governments. He who bets on governments and government money bets against 6,000 years…

— Charles de Gaulle

Only peril can bring the French together. One can't impose unity out of the blue on a country that has 265 different…

— Charles de Gaulle

The leader must aim high, see big, judge widely, thus setting himself apart form the ordinary people who debate in narrow confines.

— Charles de Gaulle

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

— Charles de Gaulle

When I am right, I get angry. Churchill gets angry when he is wrong. We are angry at each other much of…

— Charles de Gaulle