A great country worthy of the name does not have any friends.
Charles de Gaulle

A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless.
Charles de Gaulle

As an adolescent I was convinced that France would have to go through gigantic trials, that the interest of life consisted in one day rendering her some signal service and that I would have the occasion to do so.
Charles de Gaulle

Authority doesn't work without prestige, or prestige without distance.
Charles de Gaulle

China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese.
Charles de Gaulle

Church is the only place where someone speaks to me and I do not have to answer back.
Charles de Gaulle

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

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

Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life.
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, makes it his own.
Charles de Gaulle

For glory gives herself only to those who have always dreamed of her.
Charles de Gaulle

France cannot be France without greatness.
Charles de Gaulle

France has lost the battle but she has not lost the war.
Charles de Gaulle

Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.
Charles de Gaulle

Hearing Mass is the ceremony I most favor during my travels. Church is the only place where someone speaks to me and I do not have to answer back.
Charles de Gaulle

How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?
Charles De Gaulle

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

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

I have heard your views. They do not harmonize with mine. The decision is taken unanimously.
Charles de Gaulle