“Belgium is a country invented by the British to annoy the French.”

Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.

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

At the root of our civilization, there is the freedom of each person of thought, of belief, of opinion, of work, of leisure.

Only by coming to grips with difficulty can you realize your full potential.

Genius sometimes consists of knowing when to stop.

My dear and old country, here we are once again together faced with a heavy trial.

The desire of privilege and the taste of equality are the dominant and contradictory passions of the French of all times.

All my life I have had a certain idea of France.

You’ll live. Only the best get killed.

Don’t think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.

Never relinquish the initiative.

How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?

Men are of no importance. What counts is who commands.

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

France has lost the battle but she has not lost the war.

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.

I usually don’t like to annoy people in asking to work with them.

I know that you are annoyed with me because of how holy you are and because your sacrifice has not made me holy, too.

I don’t think imitation is the highest form of flattery, I think it’s annoying.

I love football and I love winning, and when things aren’t going right I get annoyed.

You don’t want to raise a kid in a culture where the kid who asks the most questions is annoying. You want a culture where the kid who asks the most questions gets awards and gets another piece of cake.

People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

Never lose interest in life and the world. Never allow yourself to become annoyed.

Grandchildren can be annoying – how many times can you go: “And the cow goes moo and the pig goes oink”? It’s like talking to a supermodel.