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
I always thought I was Jeanne d'Arc and Bonaparte. How little one knows oneself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Self-perception can often be misleading, revealing how little we truly understand ourselves.
In this quote, Charles De Gaulle reflects on the complexity of self-identity and the limitations of personal self-awareness. He suggests that individuals often hold grandiose or heroic views of themselves, akin to historical figures like Jeanne d'Arc and Bonaparte, yet in reality, we might not fully comprehend our true nature or capabilities.
Themes
Self-AwarenessIdentityPerceptionHumilityKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about personal growth.
More from Charles De Gaulle
All quotes →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
A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless.
Charles De GaulleRead
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