QuoteProject
One cannot govern with 'buts'.
Charles De Gaulle
ShareWTF𝕏

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.
Charles De GaulleRead
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

Similar quotes

I worked with Congress on legislation, gave speeches to CEOs, military generals and Hollywood executives. But I also worked to ensure that my efforts would resonate with kids and families - and that meant doing things in a creative and unconventional way. So, yeah, I planted a garden and hula-hooped on the White House lawn with kids.
Michelle ObamaRead
The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.
Ronald ReaganRead
When you're building a business or joining a company you have to be transparent, you can't have two sets of information for two sets of people.
Howard SchultzRead
In today's world you have to interact. You can't be some difficult, shy person who is not able to look somebody in the face; you have to present yourself. You have to know how to talk about your vision, your focus and what you believe in.
Anna WintourRead
You know, I never walk into a room feeling as if I'm in the room as a Black woman. When I walk into the Security Council, I'm the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Security Council, and that's what I tell young women when I meet them.
Linda Thomas-GreenfieldRead
Leadership is not taken, it is given. People give leadership to those that they trust. They allow people that they trust to have influence over their lives.
Henry CloudRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.