“France cannot be France without greatness.”

For glory gives herself only to those who have always dreamed of her.

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

I have heard your views. They do not harmonize with mine. The decision is taken unanimously.

I’m not at all embarrassed to be a revolutionary.

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

You start out giving your hat, then you give your coat, then your shirt, then your skin and finally your soul.

We may go to the moon, but that’ s not very far. The greatest distance we have to cover still lies within us.

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

To govern is always to choose among disadvantages.

Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.

A man of character finds a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realize his potentialities.

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.

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.

I am and will remain a tax resident in France and in this regard I will, like all French people, fulfill my fiscal obligations.

I had very, very little training in taking an exam to determine a scientist’s life in France.

It is difficult to admonish Frenchmen. Their habit of mind is unfavorable to preachment.

The most Christian France is the sole wet-nurse to the Roman court.

Being an African filmmaker, Africa is what’s important for me.

For all of us Frenchmen, the guiding rule of our epoch is to be faithful to France.

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