Genius sometimes consists of knowing when to stop.

Soyons fermes, purs et fidèles ; au bout de nos peines, il y a la plus grande gloire du monde, celle des hommes qui n'ont pas cédé. [Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there is the greatest glory of the world, that of the men who did not give in.]

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.

Difficulty attracts the characterful man, for it is by grasping it that he fulfils himself.

How can one conceive of a one-party system in a country that has over two hundred varieties of cheese?

Nothing more enhances authority than silence. It is the crowning virtue of the strong, the refuge of the weak, the modesty of the proud, the pride of the humble, the prudence of the wise, and the sense of fools. To speak is to . . . dissipate one's strength; whereas what action demands is concentration. Silence is a necessary preliminary to the ordering of one's thoughts.

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