Impossible n'est pas Francais

This should be the easiest to figure out. Don't you remember Napolean? Don't you remember his famous quote about the word "impossible". If you do, that is what I am talking about. There are many variations of it. What I remember is "The word impossible is not in my dictionary". There is another version of the same quote saying "Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools". I like the first version. It is non-threatening but inspiring and motivating at the same time.

The French version of this famous quote is "Impossible n'est pas Francais" which translates to "Impossible is not French". When I told my friends the version I learnt in school, they liked my version better; may be for all the reasons I mentioned earlier. The topic of the day was famous French politicians and my friends think Charles de Gaulle is the one. Whatever little I know about him is after visiting the de Gaulle section at the Musee de l'Armee. If I had not read the Frederick Forsyth novel "The Day of the Jackal", I wouldn't even have known of a French President named de Gaulle!

So, who do you think is famous? Napolean, Charles de Gaulle or Sarkozy?



Comments

  1. SajeshDecember 22, 2011 at 4:23 PM

    SARKOZY FOR PRESIDENT!! oh wait..

    Napolean, of course. But Sarkozy will have a special place

    ReplyDelete
  2. NonaDecember 22, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    @Sajesh - Wow! I never knew Sarkozy was so famous!

    ReplyDelete
  3. SajeshDecember 22, 2011 at 4:30 PM

    He will go down on Carla Bruni... I mean, he will go down in history as husband of Carla Bruni.

    ReplyDelete
  4. NonaDecember 22, 2011 at 4:45 PM

    @Sajesh - he he he. No comments!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousDecember 22, 2011 at 6:28 PM

    Gaulle for sure!! Do you know the during the ancient Roman time France was known as "Gaulle". Also Paris was known as "Lutece"

    ReplyDelete
  6. NonaDecember 22, 2011 at 7:09 PM

    @Anonymous - Lutece is new to me. About Gaulle, I know it from Asterix comics. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousDecember 22, 2011 at 7:26 PM

    You can visit "Arene de Lutece" in Rue Monge, 75005 Paris, Metro 7 Place Monge, I dont know how to explain "It is some thing like a Collosum" Nothing spcl to see, but I guess it is the only monument in Paris which is reffered Paris to "Lutece"

    ReplyDelete
  8. NonaDecember 22, 2011 at 8:02 PM

    @Anonymous - Thank you. I checked it out on the net. It is a park now.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousDecember 23, 2011 at 3:35 AM

    Pappettan says Impossible = I'm possible

    ReplyDelete
  10. NonaDecember 23, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    @Anonymous - *bows*

    ReplyDelete
  11. subhorup dasguptaDecember 23, 2011 at 10:53 AM

    Impossible is not French sounds just right. Sarkozy is popular, I am sure, for reasons that might not be related to statesmanship or citizen welfare. It is tragic that all the three French greats you mentioned will be remembered more for their tragic flaws than their greatness.

    ReplyDelete
  12. NonaDecember 23, 2011 at 12:06 PM

    @Subhorup - Thank you for commenting. You raise an important point here. They will be remembered for their "tragic" flaws. So true.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment