I always thought I was Jeanne d'Arc and Bonaparte. How little one knows oneself.
Charles De GaulleRead
One cannot govern with 'buts'.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Leadership requires decisiveness and clarity; ambiguity and excuses hinder effective governance.
This quote by Charles De Gaulle emphasizes the importance of clear and decisive leadership. When governing, making excuses or relying on uncertainties ('buts') can lead to ineffective decision-making and problems in authority. True leaders take responsibility and act without hesitation, fostering trust and stability.
Themes
LeadershipDecisivenessGovernanceClarityResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
A public speaking event discussing the qualities of effective leadership.
More from Charles De Gaulle
All quotes →Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life.
Charles De GaulleRead
Today we are crushed by the sheer weight of the mechanized forces hurled against us, but we can still look to the future in which even greater mechanized forces will bring us victory. Therein lies the destiny of the world.
Charles De GaulleRead
The perfection preached in the gospels never yet built an empire. Every man of action has a strong dose of egotism, pride, hardness, and cunning.
Charles De GaulleRead
One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day was; one cannot judge life until death.
Charles De GaulleRead
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. [Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there is the greatest glory of the world, that of the men who did not give in.]
Charles De GaulleRead
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I was honored to have an opportunity to speak on August 28th, 1963.
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Prioritization sounds like such a simple thing, but true prioritization starts with a very difficult question to answer, especially at a company with a portfolio approach: If you could only do one thing, what would it be? And you can't rationalize the answer, and you can't attach the one thing to some other things. It's just the one thing.
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