“Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back upon himself.”

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.

Difficulty attracts the man of character because it is in embracing it that he realizes himself.

Every Frenchman wants to enjoy one or more privileges; that’s the way he shows his passion for equality.

Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.

The leader is always alone before bad fates.

In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.

Always choose the hardest way, on it you will not find opponents.

Love is the strongest force the world possesses, and yet it is the Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.

The leader must aim high, see big, judge widely, thus setting himself apart form the ordinary people who debate in narrow confines.

These people really aim very badly.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Politics, when it is an art and a service, not an exploitation, is about acting for an ideal through realities.

I am a man who belongs to no-one and who belongs to everyone.

I don’t like to plan anything.

I keep hearing I’m a crazy party guy. I’m not. I’m boring. At least by party standards.

We do not become righteous by doing righteous deed but, having been made righteous, we do righteous deeds.

My mother was extremely controlled, sort of flawless. And I always tend to be a bit more hippie.

I’m probably 20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic. I don’t think anyone really knows. You’ll either find out or not when you get there, until then there’s no point thinking about it.

Nothing adds such dignity to character as the recognition of one’s self- sovereignty.

The best loved by God are those that are rich, yet have the humility of the poor, and those that are poor and have the magnanimity of the rich.

By nature, I keep moving, man. My theory is, be the shark. You’ve just got to keep moving. You can’t stop.