French Diplomat Quotes

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Urban II

Paul Claudel

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis

Philippe de Commines

John Hector St. John

The gossip that came back to me from fashionable dinners where people pitied poor Romain Gary, who must be a little sad, a little jealous of the meteoric rise in the literary firmament of his cousin Emile Ajar… I've had a lot of fun. Good-bye, and thank you.

Now in my opinion, out of all the countries I have personally known, England is the one where public affairs are best conducted and regulated with least violence to the people. There no buildings are knocked down or demolished through war, and disaster and misfortune befall those who make war.

Philippe de Commines

Women sometimes forgive a man who forces the opportunity, but never a man who misses one.

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Men are like plants; the goodness and flavor of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow.

John Hector St. John

The ideal civil servant should always be colourless, odourless and tasteless.

Roger Peyrefitte

If something pleasant happens to you, don't forget to tell it to your friends, to make them feel bad.

Casimir, Comte de Montrond

I must leave all that! Farewell, dear paintings that I have loved so much and which have cost me so much.

Last words

In the little moment that remains to us between the crisis and the catastrophe, we may as well drink a glass of champagne.

Would you know the qualities a man lacks, examine those of which he boasts.

Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur

Today we only smile, we laugh no more,
And e'en our very pleasures seem to bore.

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis

Let no attachment to your native soil be an impediment, because…all the world is exile to the Christian, and all the world his country: thus exile is his country, and his country exile.

Launching the First Crusade

He who cuts off his nose takes poor revenge for a shame inflicted on him.