French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged his compatriots to moan less, saying the country would be better off if they emulated wartime leader Charles de Gaulle, reports FRANCE 24.
Macron, on a visit to the northeastern village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises that is also the home and burial place of the former president, made his comments after speaking to a pensioner who complained he only had a small pension.
"The grandson of the general (Charles de Gaulle) told me a little while ago" that his grandfather's rule was: "You can speak freely, the only thing we should not do is to complain."
"I think that the general had the right idea. The country would be different if everyone did the same," Macron said.
"We don't realize how lucky we are. We are seeing more and more elderly people in our country in good health," he added.
Reacting on Twitter, leader of France's far-right National Rally -- formerly the National Front -- Marine Le Pen, wrote: "Those who complain don't do it just for the fun of it but because they are the victims of non-stop tax rises and endemic insecurity."