For all of us Frenchmen, the guiding rule of our epoch is to be faithful to France.

Whereas ordinary officers must be content with behaving correctly in front of their men, the great leaders have always carefully stage-managed their effects.

Difficulty attracts the man of character because it is in embracing it that he realizes himself

There can be no other criterion, no other standard than gold. Yes, gold which never changes, which can be shaped into ingots, bars, coins, which has no nationality and which is eternally and universally accepted as the unalterable fiduciary value par excellence.

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

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.

To govern is always to choose among disadvantages.