Charles de Gaulle

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

A great country worthy of the name does not have any friends. ”

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. ”

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

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

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

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. ”

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. ”

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

Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown. ”