The True Statesman Is The One Who

As An Adolescent I Was Convinced That France Would Have To Go Through Gigantic Trials, That The Interest Of Life Consisted In One Day Rendering Her Some Signal Service And That I Would Have The Occasion To Do So.

Genius Sometimes Consists Of Knowing When To Stop.

I Predict You Will Sink Step By Step Into A Bottomless Quagmire, However Much You Spend In Men And Money." (on Vietnam War)

One Cannot Govern With 'buts'.

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.