Not in the constitution, but I would propose a law to the French parliament that provides for reducing the budget deficit year by year, until we have reached a balanced budget by 2017.

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.

No hero is a hero if he ever killed someone! Only the man who has not any blood in his hand can be a real hero! The honour of being a hero belongs exclusively to the peaceful people!

The truth is that love smashes into your life like an ice floe, and even if your heart is built like the Titanic you go down.

She can feel his blood, just beneath his skin; when he breathes, the air fills with smoke. He's like a dragon, ancient and fearless.

My understanding is that you get to choose which of your thoughts to go with.

I'm a tidy sort of bloke. I don't like chaos. I kept records in the record rack, tea in the tea caddy, and pot in the pot box.

It is so seldom that a young fellow has any inclination for the company of an old man. . .

The mind that has not been developed or trained is very scattered. That's the normal state of affairs, but it leaves us out of touch with a great deal in life, including our bodies.

I would rather have a nod from an American, than a snuff- box from an emperor.

Dive into the sea of thought, and find there pearls beyond price.

The walls of books around him, dense with the past, formed a kind of insulation against the present world of disasters.