You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination.

Attributed to Charles de Gaulle, the remark is a sardonic comment on the predictability of great-power behavior: a nation will not only make the obvious mistakes available to it, but will also find novel ways to err. In de Gaulle’s mouth, it is usually read as a barbed expression of French frustration with U.S. decision-making and diplomatic style—impulsive, overconfident, and insufficiently attentive to historical nuance—especially in moments when France sought greater strategic independence. The line’s sting comes from its escalation (“plus some beyond imagination”), turning a critique of policy misjudgments into a broader warning about underestimating the capacity for unforeseen folly.