How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?

The remark is widely attributed to Charles de Gaulle as a wry comment on the difficulty of governing France, a nation he saw as fiercely pluralistic in its regions, traditions, and political temperaments. It is commonly placed in the post–Second World War period, when de Gaulle was preoccupied with restoring French unity and stable institutions amid fractious party politics and strong local identities. The “246 varieties of cheese” functions as a humorous shorthand for the country’s deep cultural and regional diversity—an everyday symbol (cheese) standing in for the broader challenge of forging national consensus and effective central authority.

The quip uses culinary abundance as a metaphor for pluralism. “246 varieties of cheese” evokes not only gastronomic richness but also the multiplicity of local loyalties, opinions, and interests that complicate national unity. De Gaulle’s humor is double-edged: it celebrates France’s distinctive character while implying that the same diversity makes coherent governance hard. The line has endured because it compresses a recurring theme in French history—tension between central authority and regional particularism—into an image that is instantly recognizable and culturally flattering, even as it admits to political difficulty.

1) “How can you govern a country that has 246 varieties of cheese?”
2) “How can anyone govern a nation with 246 kinds of cheese?”
3) “How can you govern a country with two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?”