Quotes by Charles de Gaulle

About Charles de Gaulle:

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general, resistant, writer and statesman. He was the leader of Free France (1940–44) and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–46). In 1958, he founded the Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th President of France, until his resignation in 1969. He was the dominant figure of France during the Cold War era and his memory continues to influence French politics.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Old age is a shipwreck.

Charles de Gaulle

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

Charles de Gaulle

You'll live. Only the best get killed.

Charles de Gaulle

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

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 the French from being French.

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 once you have confronted History?

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

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.

Charles de Gaulle

The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.

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

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

Charles de Gaulle

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

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

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

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

Charles de Gaulle

France cannot be France without greatness.

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

Treaties are like roses and young girls. They last while they last.

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

You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.

Charles de Gaulle

Author Bio

  • NameCharles de Gaulle
  • Descriptioneighteenth President of the French Republic
  • AliasesCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle
  • BornNovember 22, 1890
  • DiedNovember 9, 1970
  • CountryFrance
  • ProfessionOfficer; Statesman; Memoirist; Military Theorist
  • AwardsGrand Cross Of The National Order Of Merit; Grand Cross Of The Legion Of Honour; Knight Grand Cross With Collar Of The Order Of Merit Of The Italian Republic; Knight Grand Cross Of The Royal Victorian Order; Companion Of The Liberation