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France has seen a portion of her inheritance wrested from her; she must recover her loss. That is the work we have to do: let us think of it always, but speak of it—never!

— Léon Gambetta Speech in Chambéry (1872)

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More quotes by Léon Gambetta

To remain a great nation or to become one, you must colonise.

A man's first duty is to fight for his country.

I am only saddened by the help foreigners obtain from my electoral opponents at home. It is very sad to see the extreme (radical) republican party losing even the notion of patriotism.

At this moment I have only one preoccupation: after our fruitless efforts to drive out the foreigner to try to save at least our Republican institutions.

Paris, the cradle of our civilisation, the buckler of our public liberties, the teacher and guide of the national genius, Paris that may be made a mark for the imbecile hatred of a few rustic boors, but can never be downtrodden nor dishonoured.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Léon Gambetta (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.