Old age is a shipwreck.

Never relinquish the initiative.

One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day was; one cannot judge life until death.

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

In the tumult of men and events, solitude was my temptation; now it is my friend. What other satisfaction can be sought once you have confronted History?

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.

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