“France cannot be France without greatness.”

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.

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.

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.