Charles de Gaulle citations célèbres
Ouvrages, Mémoires de guerre : L'appel : 1940-1942
“Je vais vers l'Orient compliqué avec des idées simples.”
Conversation entre De Gaulle et Couve de Murville le [11, octobre, 1963] rapportée par Alain Peyrefitte.
Appel du 18 juin 1940
Ouvrages, Mémoires d'espoir
Ouvrages, Mémoires d'espoir
Charles de Gaulle Citations
Conversation entre de Gaulle et Pompidou le [11, juillet, 1950] sur la 1re armée française de 1944–45
Propos rapporté suite à son opération de la prostate (Le Figaro 5/12/2013).
Note de 1942 au colonel Billotte.
Lettres, notes et carnets
L’Avènement des forces mécaniques, mémorandum remis au début de 1940.
Lettres, notes et carnets
Lettre à Paul Reynaud, [22, octobre, 1939] .
Lettres, notes et carnets
Conférence de presse du [15, mai, 1962] .
Ouvrages, Mémoires d'espoir
Illustration par le droit de citation vidéo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj_c9zxHzBA
Ouvrages, Mémoires d'espoir
Ouvrages, Mémoires de guerre : L'appel : 1940-1942
Entretien avec Jean-Raymond Tournoux.
Entretiens
Charles de Gaulle: Citations en anglais
Attributed to de Gaulle by Romain Gary, Life, May 9, 1969
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
“Difficulty attracts the characterful man, for it is by grasping it that he fulfils himself.”
La difficulté attire l'homme de caractère, car c'est en l'étreignant qu'il se réalise lui-même.
in Mémoires de guerre.
Writings
“I am Joan of Arc. I am Clemenceau.”
Reportedly misattributed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in January, 1943, in communicating his impression of de Gaulle's arrogance in assuming the mantle of leadership of free France. Reported in Paul F. Boller, John George, They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions (1990), p. 33-34.
Misattributed
Reminiscing during an ocean voyage to Tahiti, quoted in The Atlantic, November 1960
Early life
La France fut faite à coups d'épée. La fleur de lys, symbole d'unité nationale, n'est que l'image d'un javelot à trois lances.
in La France et son armée.
Writings
from William Manchester's "American Caesar".
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
“Character is the virtue of hard times.”
Le caractère, vertu des temps difficiles.
in Le fil de l’épée.
Writings
“France cannot be France without greatness.”
La France ne peut être la France sans la grandeur.
in Mémoires de guerre.
Writings
“Men can have friends, statesmen cannot.”
Les hommes peuvent avoir des amis, pas les hommes d'Etat.
Interview, December 9 1967.
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
“France has no friends, only interests.”
Clementine Churchill: "General, you must not hate your friends more than you hate your enemies"
De Gaulle (in English): "France has no friends, only interests." (De Gaulle did not speak specifically of France, but of all nation-states, including Britain. This remark was in line with his saying "Men can have friends, statesmen cannot",*Les hommes peuvent avoir des amis, pas les hommes d'Etat., in Interview, December 9, 1967).
Most famous
Oui, c'est l'Europe, depuis l'Atlantique jusqu'à l'Oural, c'est toute l'Europe, qui décidera du destin du monde.
23 November 1959, Strasbourg. The phrase shown in bold is the most often quoted excerpt. De Gaulle was expressing his vision of Europe's future.
Most famous
“Jews remain what they have been at all times: an elite people, self-confident and domineering.”
Attributed to a news conference (27 November 1967) the earliest occurrence of this statement yet located is in The Cross and the Flag, Vol. 27, (1968) by the Christian Nationalist Crusade
Appeal of June 18, Speech of June 18
“The evolution toward Communism is inevitable.”
Reported in the National Review (November 1962) as a misattribution created by extreme rightists. See Paul F. Boller, John George, They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions (1990), p. 33.
Misattributed
“Nothing great is done without great men, and they are great because they wanted it.”
On ne fait rien de grand sans de grands hommes, et ceux-ci le sont pour l'avoir voulu.
in Vers l’armée de métier.
Writings
Bien entendu, on peut sauter sur sa chaise comme un cabri en disant l’Europe ! l’Europe ! l’Europe ! mais cela n’aboutit à rien et cela ne signifie rien.
Interview on a presidential campaign, December 1965 INA archive of the video http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=I00012536 (De Gaulle meant that he wanted to build a European Union on realities, i.e. the existing nation-states with their respective interests – not on slogans and abstractions)
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
“Why do you think that at 67 I would start a career as a dictator?”
Pourquoi voulez-vous qu'à 67 ans je commence une carrière de dictateur ?
Press conference, May 19 1958 (De Gaulle was changing the constitution to make government more efficient, after decades of impotent parliamentary regime, and he mocked journalists who claimed he was establishing a dictatorship).
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
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.
Speech, July 14 1943.
World War II
Le désir du privilège et le goût de l'égalité, passions dominantes et contradictoires des Français de toute époque.
in La France et son armée.
Writings
A la base de notre civilisation, il y a la liberté de chacun dans sa pensée, ses croyances, ses opinions, son travail, ses loisirs.
Speech, November 25 1941.
World War II
“It is unnecessary, for the Republic has never ceased to exist. I was the Republic.”
Reply in August 1944 to a statement of regret that the windows of the Hotel de Ville in Paris were not opened for the crowd outside cheering the reestablishment of the Republic. Quoted in The Atlantic, November 1960.
World War II
“The cabinet has no propositions to make, but orders to give.”
Le gouvernement n'a pas de propositions à faire, mais des ordres à donner.
in Mémoires de guerre. (Secretary of State De Gaulle so replied, in early June 1940, to Admiral Darlan, whom he was asking to transfer what was left of the French army to North Africa)
Writings
La politique, quand elle est un art et un service, non point une exploitation, c'est une action pour un idéal à travers des réalités.
Press conference, June 30 1955
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
Source: "Le Général de Gaulle et la construction de l'Europe" https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wg4ZAQAAIAAJ (1967), pg 33. note: 1950s
“The sword is the axis of the world and grandeur cannot be divided.”
L'épée est l'axe du monde et la grandeur ne se divise pas.
in Vers l’armée de métier.
Writings
Discussing the Force de Frappe. Quoted in The New York Review of Books, 29 April 2010.
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
“Long live Montreal, Long live Quebec! Long live Free Quebec!”
Vive Montreal; Vive le Québec! Vive le Québec libre!
From a balcony at Montreal City Hall, with particular emphasis on the word 'libre'. The phrase, a slogan used by Quebecers who favoured Quebec sovereignty, and de Gaulle's use of it, was seen by them as lending his tacit support to the movement. The speech sparked a diplomatic incident with Canada's government, and was condemned by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, saying that "Canadians do not need to be liberated."
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
“I am a man who belongs to no-one and who belongs to everyone.”
Je suis un homme qui n'appartient à personne et qui appartient à tout le monde.
Press conference, May 19 1958
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
Said to Pierre Bertaux in 1944, as recounted in The Atlantic, November 1960
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
Tout peut, un jour, arriver, même qu'un acte conforme à l'honneur et à l'honnêteté apparaisse en fin de compte, comme un bon placement politique.
in Mémoires de guerre.
Writings
“The leader is always alone before bad fates.”
Toujours le chef est seul en face du mauvais destin.
in Mémoires de guerre.
Writings
“The future does not belong to men…”
L'avenir n'appartient pas aux hommes...
Speech, December 1967
Fifth Republic and other post-WW2
