All my life I have had a certain idea of France.

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.

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

Always choose the hardest way, on it you will not find opponents

I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.

Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.

In politics it is necessary either to betray one's country or the electorate. I prefer to betray the electorate.

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

Deliberation is the work of many men. Action, of one alone.

You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.

He who laughs last didn't get the joke.

I can ruthlessly press my imagination out beyond its very edges, and even in such a remote place I have not begun to touch the barest periphery of God’s imagination.

The past is as easy to travel into as turning the pages of a book...

One has to commit a painting, ' said Degas, 'the way one commits a crime.

Take a winter as you find him and he turns out to be a thoroughly honest fellow with no nonsense in him: and tolerating none in you which is a great comfort in the long run.

Accidents happen all the time.

Style supposes the reunion and the exercise of all the intellectual faculties. The style is the man.

Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility.

I'm a fan of comic books. I'm a nerd. I'm a geek. I'm all that stuff.

If thou canst see sharp, look and judge wisely, says the philosopher.

I'm not emaciated; I'm wiry. Most women find lean men appealing.