French

"Now Rommel did something that characterizes Blitzkrieg warfare. Rather than dig in and “consolidate his position,” or otherwise savor the fruits of victory, he proceeded to use his advantage in time to neutralize his opponents’ forces and weapons. Battle-weary as they must have been, Rommel’s troops remounted their vehicles, pressed on to the west, and actually reached the new French defensive line before the French."

"Basil Liddell Hart had to say: The issue turned on the time factor at stage after stage. French counter-movements were repeatedly thrown out of gear because their timing was too slow to catch up with the changing situation … The French, trained in the slow-motion methods of World War I, were mentally unfit to cope with the new tempo, and it caused a spreading paralysis among them."

"To summarize the Allies’ position, they knew an attack was coming, and they knew where it was coming—in the 200-mile gap between the Maginot Line and the English Channel. In this area, they had about the same number of troops as their enemy, and this in an era when one was supposed to need a three-to-one advantage in order to mount a successful attack. Most amazing of all, the French had even foreseen the possibility that the Germans would attack where they actually did, and they had prepared an answer for it With all of this going for them, how could the French and British lose?"

"Liddell Hart’s observation on the French in 1940, “their timing was too slow to catch up with the changing situations,” and it caused their ability to make decisions to break down."

"The possibility that Italy, where about 80% of the world's luxury products are made, could become a French province is real. Just take a tour of the industrial districts of the sector, from Tuscany to Puglia, to find subcontractors who produce exclusively for the French cousins."

"Over a hundred years have passed, yet their request has not lost its relevance. It is incredible how, in some way, we still find ourselves in the same situation: Italian groups, recognized for the quality of their luxury products, struggling to compete with the big global players in the sector, and the lack of a national hub that has never been successfully established in the land of bell towers, where, as we have seen, several families have preferred to sell to the French of the moment, rather than allying with the neighboring house and warehouse."

"The rule about being international meant, among other things, that LEGO could not be marketed as a Danish product. According to Godtfred, the best thing that could happen was for the Germans to believe that the company was German and the French to think the products were made in France. They succeeded. Over the years, many countries took credit for being the birthplace and homeland of LEGO."

"His constant references to the ancient world had the intended effect of giving ordinary soldiers a sense that their lives – and, should it come to that, their deaths in battle – mattered, that they were an integral part of a larger whole that would resonate through French history. There are few things in the art of leadership harder to achieve than this, and no more powerful impetus to action."

"Del Vecchio is looking for his way in a sector where German manufacturers focus on high technical quality and robustness, while the French aim for captivating style. There is room for Italians, just combine design and quality and the job is done. Leonardo aims for excellence. At the center of his value chain, there is always and only the product. The engine of sales is the glasses, not what revolves around it."

"He has taken over the world of frames by destroying the competition, humiliating his Italian rivals, buying out the Americans, annihilating the French and Germans."