Since a politician never believes what he says, he — Charles de Gaulle

Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays qui a deux cent quarante-six variétés de fromage? My dear and old country, here we are once again together faced with a heavy trial. France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war! proclamation, 18 June 1940 A state worthy of the name has no friends—only interests.

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself. Søren Kierkegaard The cruellest lies are often told in silence. Virginibus Puerisque (1881) title essay, pt. 4 Robert Louis Stevenson Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies. Groucho Marx If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. The Advancement of Learning (1605) bk. 1, ch. 5, sect. 8 Francis Bacon