“Men can have friends, statesmen cannot.”

It is better to have a bad method than to have none.

Authority doesn’t work without prestige, or prestige without distance.

France has no friends, only interests.

Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.

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.

In war, the policy of least exertion always risks being paid for dearly.

Character is the virtue of hard times.

Adversity attracts the man of character. He seeks out the bitter joy of responsibility.

You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination.

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

One can unite the French only under the threat of danger. One cannot simply bring together a nation that produces 265 kinds of cheese.

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?

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.

It’s better to have a bad plan then no plan at all.

The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.

It’s impossible in normal times to rally a nation that has 265 kinds of cheese.

I think friendships are a lot more valuable than one job. If you’re going to let it ruin that, then that’s stupid.

I’m surrounded by good people, and I surround myself with good people.

A good friend has no limitations on you.

If you’ll believe in me, I’ll believe in you.

Quite a lot of the girls I get photographed with are just friends and then, according to the papers, I have, like, 7,000 girlfriends.

You truly are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with.

The relationship between husband and wife should be one of closest friends.

Going out for rides with my friends and having lunch or dinner at a roadside hotel – that’s my favourite time-pass.