Think France When Still in Brittany

"Setting his sights on France as his horizon when his presence in Brittany was still anecdotal, then giving himself a global perspective as soon as a brilliantly executed financial operation gave him a real investment capacity."

"Calculation for the long term, well beyond investing in reputation, and less for the public than for those who whisper from ear to ear what a balance sheet means. The rare sense of the price of discipline, sometimes in comparison to debts that are terrifying. All of this coupled with the need to think big. Very big. Excessively big."

"Indeed, his strength, as soon as circumstances helped him get himself started, was to think like a strategist. That is, to look beyond breaking news, beyond ongoing operations, especially if they were so important as to monopolize his attention completely. And even beyond debts to be settled, which, unlike others, he always took great pains to pay off in full, especially if it was unexpected or difficult."