The President’s comments came after a retiree protested about pension cuts.
The 40-year-old insisted the French would be better off if they followed Charles de Gaulle’s example and complained less.
The President made the comments during a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the French constitution in de Gaulle’s home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, in northeastern France.
Mr Macron said he’d learn from de Gaulle’s grandson that the famed general lived by the principle: “You can speak freely but the one thing you have no right to do is complain.”
According to Agency France-Presse, Mr Macron said: “I think the general had the right idea.
“The country would be in a different place if it was like that.
“We don’t realise how immensely lucky we are. We are seeing more and more elderly people in our country in good health.”
It is not the first time has acted out of frustration when confronted, after Mr Macron complained in June that France spends too much on “cash” on social care.
The comments coincide with the French leader’s slump popularity.
In a September poll conducted by French polling company IFOP, just 29 percent of the 1,964 people surveyed approved of Macron’s performance, a remarkable drop from a 34 percent approval rating in August.
French polling company OpinionWay also showed that 28 percent of 1,061 surveyed approved of the President’s performance, a 7 percent drop from a July poll.
Mr Macron shrugged off the low polls, and says he intends to continue the country’s economy.
He said: “I have a big advantage, I don’t have any mid-term elections so I am not driven by polls.
“I have to reform the country in depth. We will keep exactly the same pace.”
The President has become known for his controversial comments.
Last month the fresh-faced European told an unemployed man there are many employers looking for job seekers.
“I can find you a job just by crossing the road,” Macron told him.
“If you are ready and motivated, in hotels, cafes, and construction, everywhere I go, people say to me thatchy are looking for staff,” he said, according to the BBC.
Video of the encounter went viral in France, where the unemployment rate is approximately 10 per-cent. The man was able to find a job a week later.
“I’m happy because I’m going to work in something I love,” Jonathan Jahan, 25, told France’s BFM TV, according to Reuters, after he accepted a job as a coach bus driver.
Jahan, who studied horticulture, turned down a staggering 20 other job offers.