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One cannot govern with 'buts'.
Charles De Gaulle
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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

I always thought I was Jeanne d'Arc and Bonaparte. How little one knows oneself.
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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.
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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.
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One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day was; one cannot judge life until death.
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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.]
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Quote by Charles De Gaulle | QuoteProject