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How Can One Conceive Of A One-party System In A Country That Has Over Two Hundred Varieties Of Cheese?

-Charles De Gaulle

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How Can One Conceive

Charles De Gaulle

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How Can One Conceive Of A One-party System In A Country That Has Over Two Hundred Varieties Of Cheese?

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We May Go To The Moon, But That' S Not Very Far. The Greatest Distance We Have To Cover Still Lies Within Us.

Patriotism Is When Love Of Your Own People Comes First; Nationalism, When Hate For People Other Than Your Own Comes First.

I Have Against Me The Bourgeois, The Military And The Diplomats, And For Me, Only The People Who Take The Métro.

No, I'm Not Talking About The Russians; I Mean The Germans. In Spite Of Everything, To Have Pushed So Far!

The Perfection Preached In The Gospels Never Yet Built An Empire. Every Man Of Action Has A Strong Dose Of Egotism, Pride, Hardness, And Cunning.

I Wouldn't Mind Dying For France, But Not For Air France.

Long Live Montreal, Long Live Quebec! Long Live Free Quebec!

Only By Coming To Grips With Difficulty Can You Realize Your Full Potential.

Whatever Happens, The Flame Of The French Resistance Must Not Be Extinguished And Will Not Be Extinguished. Tomorrow, As Today, I Will Speak On Radio London.

History Does Not Teach Fatalism. There Are Moments When The Will Of A Handful Of Free Men Breaks Through Determinism And Opens Up New Roads.

Men Are Of No Importance. What Counts Is Who Commands.

Old Age Is A Shipwreck.

Soyons Fermes, Purs Et Fidèles ; Au Bout De Nos Peines, Il Y A La Plus Grande Gloire Du Monde, Celle Des Hommes Qui N'ont Pas Cédé. [let Us Be Firm, Pure And Faithful; At The End Of Our Sorrow, There Is The Greatest Glory Of The World, That Of The Men Who Did Not Give In.]

I Have Heard Your Views. They Do Not Harmonize With Mine. The Decision Is Taken Unanimously.

Deliberation Is The Work Of Many Men. Action, Of One Alone.

France Was Built With Swords. The Fleur-de-lis, Symbol Of National Unity, Is Only The Image Of A Spear With Three Pikes.

Yes, It Is Europe, From The Atlantic To The Urals, It Is Europe, It Is The Whole Of Europe, That Will Decide The Fate Of The World.

Deliberation Is A Function Of The Many; Action Is The Function Of One.

One Can Unite The French Only Under The Threat Of Danger. One Cannot Simply Bring Together A Nation That Produces 265 Kinds Of Cheese.

China Is A Big Country, Inhabited By Many Chinese.

At The Root Of Our Civilization, There Is The Freedom Of Each Person Of Thought, Of Belief, Of Opinion, Of Work, Of Leisure.

Adversity Attracts The Man Of Character. He Seeks Out The Bitter Joy Of Responsibility.

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.

In The Tumult Of Great Events, Solitude Was What I Hoped For. Now It Is What I Love. How Is It Possible To Be Contented With Anything Else When One Has Come Face To Face With History?

You May Be Sure That The Americans Will Commit All The Stupidities They Can Think Of, Plus Some That Are Beyond Imagination.

There Can Be No Prestige Without Mystery, For Familiarity Breeds Contempt.

There Can Be No Other Criterion, No Other Standard Than Gold. Yes, Gold Which Never Changes, Which Can Be Shaped Into Ingots, Bars, Coins, Which Has No Nationality And Which Is Eternally And Universally Accepted As The Unalterable Fiduciary Value Par Excellence.

France Has Lost The Battle But She Has Not Lost The War.

Gentlemen, I Am Ready For The Questions To My Answers.

A Great Country Worthy Of The Name Does Not Have Any Friends.

Old France, Weighed Down With History, Prostrated By Wars And Revolutions, Endlessly Vacillating From Greatness To Decline, But Revived, Century After Century, By The Genius Of Renewal!

All My Life I Have Had A Certain Idea Of France.

War Stirs In Men's Hearts The Mud Of Their Worst Instincts. It Puts A Premium On Violence, Nourishes Hatred, And Gives Free Rein To Cupidity. It Crushes The Weak, Exalts The Unworthy, And Bolsters Tyranny .. .time And Time Again It Has Destroyed All Ordered Living, Devastated Hope, And Put The Prophets To Death.

I Might Have Had Trouble Saving France In 1946 - I Didn't Have Television Then.

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Every Frenchman Wants To Enjoy One Or More Privileges; That's The Way He Shows His Passion For Equality

The Jews Remain What They Have Been At All Times: An Elite People, Self-confident And Domineering.

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?

I Predict You Will Sink Step By Step Into A Bottomless Quagmire, However Much You Spend In Men And Money." (on Vietnam War)

It's Better To Have A Bad Plan Then No Plan At All.

Once Upon A Time There Was An Old Country, Wrapped Up In Habit And Caution. We Have To Transform Our Old France Into A New Country And Marry It To Its Time.

Once Upon A Time

The Leader Must Aim High, See Big, Judge Widely, Thus Setting Himself Apart Form The Ordinary People Who Debate In Narrow Confines.

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.

No Policy Is Worth Anything Outside Of Reality.

They Really Are Bad Shots.

When I Am Right, I Get Angry. Churchill Gets Angry When He Is Wrong. We Are Angry At Each Other Much Of The Time.

The Better I Get To Know Men, The More I Find Myself Loving Dogs.

What Do You Take Me For, An Idiot?

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I Grew Up To Always Respect Authority And Respect Those In Charge.

You Start Out Giving Your Hat, Then You Give Your Coat, Then Your Shirt, Then Your Skin And Finally Your Soul.

Never Relinquish The Initiative.

Faced With Crisis, The Man Of Character Falls Back Upon Himself.

To Govern Is Always To Choose Among Disadvantages.

France Cannot Be France Without Greatness.

Difficulty Attracts The Man Of Character Because It Is In Embracing It That He Realizes Himself

Always Choose The Hardest Way, On It You Will Not Find Opponents

These People Really Aim Very Badly.

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Character Is The Virtue Of Hard Times.

Difficulty Attracts The Characterful Man, For It Is By Grasping It That He Fulfils Himself.

Politics, When It Is An Art And A Service, Not An Exploitation, Is About Acting For An Ideal Through Realities.

You'll Live. Only The Best Get Killed.

In Order To Become The Master, The Politician Poses As The Servant.

Love Is The Strongest Force The World Possesses, And Yet It Is The Greatness Is A Road Leading Towards The Unknown.

Only Peril Can Bring The French Together. One Can't Impose Unity Out Of The Blue On A Country That Has 265 Different Kinds Of Cheese.

When I Want To Know What France Thinks, I Ask Myself.

Men Can Have Friends, Statesmen Cannot.

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I Feel Not A Person But An Instrument Of Destiny.

The Future Does Not Belong To Men.

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I Cannot Prevent The French From Being French

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France Has No Friends, Only Interests.

One Must Wait Until The Evening To See How Splendid The Day Was; One Cannot Judge Life Until Death.

The Cabinet Has No Propositions To Make, But Orders To Give.

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How Can One Conceive Of A One-party System In A Country That Has Over Two Hundred Varieties Of Cheese?

I Am A Man Who Belongs To No-one And Who Belongs To Everyone.

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The Evolution Toward Communism Is Inevitable.

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Silence Is The Ultimate Weapon Of Power.

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I Respect Only Those Who Resist Me, But I Cannot Tolerate Them.

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.

How Can Anyone Govern A Nation That Has Two Hundred And Forty-six Different Kinds Of Cheese?

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No Country Without An Atom Bomb Could Properly Consider Itself Independent.

Betting Against Gold Is The Same As Betting On Governments. He Who Bets On Governments And Government Money Bets Against 6,000 Years Of Recorded Human History.

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.

One Cannot Govern With 'buts'.

It's Impossible In Normal Times To Rally A Nation That Has 265 Kinds Of Cheese.

The Leader Is Always Alone Before Bad Fates.

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Nothing Builds Authority Up Like Silence, Splendor Of The Strong And Shelter Of The Weak.

He Who Laughs Last Didn't Get The Joke.

The Cemetery Is Filled With Indispensable Men.

For All Of Us Frenchmen, The Guiding Rule Of Our Epoch Is To Be Faithful To France.

I Myself Have Become A Gaullist Only Little By Little.

The Graveyards Are Full Of Indispensable Men.

A True Leader Always Keeps An Element Of Surprise Up His Sleeve, Which Others Cannot Grasp But Which Keeps His Public Excited And Breathless.

Treaties Are Like Roses And Young Girls. They Last While They Last.

I Have Come To The Conclusion That Politics Are Too Serious A Matter To Be Left To The Politicians.

Greatness Is A Road Leading Towards The Unknown.

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.

Don't Think Of Yourself As Indispensable Or Infallible. The Cemeteries Of The World Are Full Of Indispensable Men.

How Can You Govern A Country Which Has 246 Varieties Of Cheese?

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Belgium Is A Country Invented By The British To Annoy The French.

Nothing Great Will Ever Be Achieved Without Great Men, And Men Are Great Only If They Are Determined To Be So.

I Always Thought I Was Jeanne D'arc And Bonaparte. How Little One Knows Oneself.

Knowing Oneself

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.

Long Live Free Quebec!

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