GAULLE Charles de. Autograph manuscript, [Du prestige, 1925]; 2 1/2 pages small in-4. These notes are the beginnings of the chapter Du prestige in Le Fil de l'épée (1932), first published in the Revue militaire française on 1 June 1931. The manuscript, written in cursive, contains numerous erasures and corrections. The text is unfinished. They are entitled "Elements of prestige, reserves made for the qualities of knowledge, intelligence, willpower and previous success". These elements are listed at the beginning, and there are three of them: "1° Remoteness. - Self-empowerment. Being cold. 2° Representation. 3° Sudden and rare intervention (miracle of religions)". "Remoteness is essential. There is a religious element in the confidence of men in another man. The subordinates must believe that the leader is of a higher essence than they are, and whatever the value of the leader, this belief disappears when the masses who obey him see him thinking too closely, hesitating, changing his mind, recognising a mistake, in short being a man like any other. [...] In the military sphere in particular, it is not primarily a material distance that the leader must impose on himself. First of all, the need to see in order to act often dictates his place". He must show himself to the masses... "what he must achieve is moral distance. [...] In other words, he must keep sufficient control over himself not to let the movements of his soul be seen". Etc. LNC, I, p. 642-644.