I feel not a person but an instrument of destiny.

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

How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?

One can unite the French only under the threat of danger. One cannot simply bring together a nation that produces 265 kinds of cheese.

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

I feel not a person but an instrument of destiny.

Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.