I always thought I was Jeanne d'Arc and Bonaparte. How little one knows oneself.
Charles De GaulleRead
In the tumult of men and events, solitude was my temptation; now it is my friend. What other satisfaction can be sought once you have confronted History?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Solitude can transition from a source of temptation to a valued companion through introspection and historical understanding.
In this quote, Charles De Gaulle reflects on the duality of solitude, contrasting its initial allure as an escape with its eventual role as a supportive presence. He suggests that once a person engages deeply with the complexities of history and human experience, solitude becomes a source of comfort and acceptance rather than loneliness.
Themes
SolitudeReflectionHistoryFriendshipTemptation
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of self-reflection during challenging times.
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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It is funny, but it strikes me that a person without anecdotes that they nurse while they live, and that survive them, are more likely to be utterly lost not only to history but the family following them. Of course this is the fate of most souls, reducing entire lives, no matter how vivid and wonderful, to those sad black names on withering family trees, with half a date dangling after and a question mark.
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Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.
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I'll be a story in your head. But that's OK. We're all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know; it was the best.
Steven MoffatRead