Charles de Gaulle
FameRank: 6

"World War I"

Battle of Verdun

Battle of the Somme

"World War II"

Battle of Montcornet

Battle of Dakar

French Resistance

Liberation of Paris

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"Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle" was a French general, French Resistance/resistant, writer and statesman. He was the leader of Free France (1940-1944) and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944-1946). In 1958, he founded the French Fifth Republic/Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th President of France, until his resignation in 1969. He was the dominant figure of France during the Cold War era and his memory continues to influence French politics.

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

Charles de Gaulle
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How do you govern a country which has 246 different kinds of cheese?

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Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word. -Charles de Gaulle
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I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.

Charles de Gaulle
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The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

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A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless. -Charles de Gaulle
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To govern is always to choose among disadvantages.

Charles de Gaulle
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Man wasn't made to be guilty.

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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. -Charles de Gaulle
182

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

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170

The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.

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Never relinquish the initiative. -Charles de Gaulle
154

You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.

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The perfection preached in the Gospels never yet built up an empire. Every man of action has a strong dose of egotism, pride, hardness, and cunning. But all those things will be forgiven him, indeed, they will be regarded as high qualities, if he can make of them the means to achieve great ends.

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How can one conceive of a one party system in a country that has over 200 varieties of cheese. -Charles de Gaulle
105

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

Charles de Gaulle
57

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

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