I attach the greatest importance to an amplification of the peace efforts in the Middle East. I would also like to see a greater dialogue between the U.S. and the EU.

Austerity need not be Europe's fate.

Today, Paris is the capital of the world.

I could have made a fortune in cheeseburgers, but I finally chose politics.

I don't like indecent, unearned wealth. But it is legitimate for an entrepreneur who has created something to make a good living.

If we don't manage to find not just a compromise but a lasting peace agreement, we know perfectly well what the scenario will be. It has a name, it's called war.

There cannot be prosperity without security.

There are tensions abroad where people don't understand our attachment to the freedom of speech, we've seen the protests, and I would say that in France all beliefs are respected.

Each country has a soul, and France's soul is equality.

My real adversary has no name, no face, no party. It will never be elected, yet it governs - the adversary is the world of finance.

To me, it's important to preserve proximity to the people. I wouldn't do anything pretentious, and nothing that hurts the people who voted for me. Triumphalism isn't my thing.

You can decide to refuse to allow people who aim at hating you to achieve their aims.

My biggest weakness is patience, wanting to see things happen too quickly or get changes in place right away. Not having the patience to let things develop.

What do you think you're doing?

Unless you continually work, evolve, and innovate, you'll learn a quick and painful lesson from someone who has.

If I have a hit, then I hope the people who like the hit song go out and buy my album so they can hear it all.

Why do we travel to remote locations? To prove our adventurous spirit or to tell stories about incredible things? We do it to be alone amongst friends and to find ourselves in a land without man.

I've always been hopelessly stuck in the present.

If one didn't have love, was it better, then, to be alone?

A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life, to be thankful for a good one.

My poetry definitely comes out of a female body.