Francois Hollande Quotations

We have chased away the clouds, the sky is all 'rose.'

The United Nations will be at the heart of our international activities. France will assume its full responsibilities at the Security Council by putting its status at the service of peace, respect for human rights and development.

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

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.

Europe needs an engine, and the Franco-German motor has provided that when the two nations have converged on important topics during critical periods. But that partnership shouldn't be a directorate for other EU members.

My mission is to put France back on its feet. The priority is employment. Efforts have to be made, but those efforts must be made fairly.

I am attached to the French language. I will defend the ubiquitous use of French.

Everyone says Francois Mitterrand had huge charisma. But before he was president they used to call him badly dressed, old, archaic and say he knew nothing about the economy until the day he was elected. It's called universal suffrage. When you're elected, you become the person that embodies France.

I think that France has not made it clear enough recently to our German friends how important it is to introduce euro bonds as a tool against speculation. And how the necessary budget discipline needs to be accompanied by growth.

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.

I want to initiate a change in society in the long term.

As a president I will be like the candidate that I am, a respectful candidate, a rallying candidate, a normal candidate for a normal presidency, at the service of the Republic.

During a term in office there are highs and lows, but what counts is that the goal is set as well as the means to achieve it, and the force we put into getting results.

The British have been particularly shy about the issues of financial regulation, and attentive only to the interests of the City - hence their reluctance to see the introduction of a tax on financial transactions and tax harmonisation in Europe.

We are a big country, with lots of advantages and history. We are proud to be French. We have to call on patriotism at this time... to ask for an effort in the battle against debt.

France is the bridge between northern Europe and southern Europe. I refuse any division. If Europe has been reunified, it's not for it to then fall into egotism or 'each for one's own'. Our duty is to set common rules around the principles of responsibility and solidarity.

I don't want euro bonds that serve to mutualize the entire debt of the countries in the euro zone. That can only work in the longer-term. I want euro bonds to be used to finance targeted investments in future-oriented growth projects. It isn't the same thing. Let's call them 'project bonds' instead of euro bonds.

Is France a northern European export powerhouse, or a Mediterranean indebted and dependent economy? Yes to both.

That is now my mission: to provide a European vision of growth, employment, prosperity - in one word, our future.

Before you, I engage myself to serve my country with the devotion and the exemplary that this post demands. I understand responsibilities of the job and, as such, I give a republican salute to Nicolas Sarkozy who has led France for 5 years and who deserves all of our respect.

An education program is, by definition, a societal program. Work should be done at school, rather than at home.

Nothing was given to me, nothing was entrusted to me, nothing was assigned to me. Everything I have, I took by right.

I perfectly understood President Obama's attitude throughout the French presidential campaign. He had no reason to distance himself from Nicolas Sarkozy. It's the basic solidarity that leaders who worked together owe to each other.

We need the help of other member countries and leaders who, like us, want to see a change in Europe's direction. That's also my logic when I tell voters that electing me president will not only shape France's future, but also initiate change across all of Europe.

When I took part in European leaders summits, it was sometimes unpleasant for me to hear Romanian, Polish, Portuguese, and Italian friends speak English, although I admit that on an informal basis, first contacts can be made in this language. Nevertheless, I will defend everywhere the use of the French language.

In an election, one needs both hope and audacity.

One thing that makes France different from other countries is the tradition of social solidarity. People from all backgrounds and political positions are willing to contribute for services and protection of society as a whole - but on the condition that money is being spent effectively and that everyone is paying their part.

France, after the month of May, will share trust with the current leadership of the United States which, on many subjects, has tended to take useful positions in our view.

I want the French people to respect values that allow each individual to practice his or her faith, but in the frame of our common rules of secularism.

My dear citizens, fellow citizens, French people, this 6th of May, have just chosen change by bringing me the presidency of the French republic. I feel the honor, which has been given to me and the task, the important task faced beyond - in front of you to serve my country.

Nicolas Sarkozy said he could see a wave rising. For once he was right. The wave's coming; it's high, its strong, and it's going to smack him in the face.

If I become president, France will not continue with the same policies as under Nicolas Sarkozy - both in domestic policy and in foreign and European policy.

We are near, very near, to an end to the eurozone crisis... The worst - in the sense of the fear of the eurozone breaking up - is over. But the best isn't there yet.

What the French want is coherence, stability and justice. If I am in a favorable position today, it's because my fellow citizens want to make the effort to straighten out the country, and at the same time they want it to be just and equitable.

To be influential in tomorrow's world, to defend our values and our development model, France needs Europe and Europe needs France.

I am the president of the youth of France.

I have defended the interests of France at the G8 in Washington; afterwards I was at Chicago to announce the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan; I have participated in two European summits, so I have fully respected the engagements I made to the French.

There is just one France... one single nation, united in the same destiny.

The transatlantic relationship is vital for both our countries: France will remain a reliable ally of the United States. Nevertheless, ally does not mean aligned.

I am proud to have been capable of giving people hope again.

I don't want to leave my successor and my children to pay for France's debt.

I gave myself an objective, to be the second president from Correze and finally to be the successor to Francois Mitterrand.

I have given myself one objective, to be the long-awaited successor to Francois Mitterrand.

I would like a UK fully engaged in Europe, but I can't decide in place of the British. I see that for the moment they want to be more in retreat.

I'm going to gather all the French people who want change.

My goal is to put France back on its feet. I have to put this country back on its feet.

My obligation, if I become president, is to give another direction to Europe than the one that is being forced upon us today.

There's always a risk when the candidate becomes president: Will he deliver what is expected of him?

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.

Between France and Senegal there's a history. There's a language that we both speak. There's a culture that we share and to which both of our peoples have contributed. But beyond our history, beyond our language, beyond the links that have united us for so long, what unites us today is the future.

France isn't just any country in Europe, and its president is not an ordinary leader in the world. Sometimes directing or leading the way is not enough, he has to initiate policies, as Nicolas Sarkozy was able to demonstrate during his term.

I am for a clear distinction between public and private life. I believe private matters should be regulated in private and I have asked those close to me to respect this.

I don't want to drive the markets crazy. I don't want to create trouble, but rather order and rules and norms. We have to struggle against financial excesses, those who speculate with sovereign debt, those who develop financial products which have done so much harm.

I know where I'm going and I have told the French. I am sure if hope is there, we will be able to put France back on its feet to live better in five years than we do today.

I won't wait until the end of my term to say I made mistakes at the beginning. That's too late. I will try to adopt the proper behaviour, if the French give me the chance, right from the start.

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.

We find ourselves in a difficult situation in Europe. There's a crisis, weak growth, unemployment... my duty is to ensure that by the end of my mandate France is in a better state than it was at the beginning.

We're all taking part in this solidarity. The French, the Germans, just like all the Europeans in the ESM. Let's stop thinking that there's only one country who's going to pay for the others. That's false.

What is happening in the Sahel for the past several months is that terrorists have structured themselves, have installed themselves. It's not simply a menace for west Africa.

The CPE isn't one more tool to create employment: it's a tool to destroy permanent jobs. The CPE will progressively become the only access to the labor market for young people, irrespective of their qualification, their salary or their branch of work.

Now their freedom has been secured, informing parliament about all the conditions of how the discussions have unfolded since August is the least thing that can be done.

From now on, the response cannot be found in a government reshuffle, whatever its scope, but in a major change in the direction of the government.

He has complicated things rather than making them simpler.

I think when you are interior minister and number two in the government, you should master your own language,

It allowed nationalists ... to transform the SNCM problem into a Corsican problem.

We must rally together in front of voters,

This sad adventure is an immense waste for our country.

We have seen how heavy the price is when we are fragmented.

We must ask for explanations about all stages of their detention,

The president knows the trade unions' attitude. He knows the frustrations of many youths.

We want to offer the country a way out of the crisis.

After what happened yesterday -- notably at the Sorbonne -- with these images of brutality, I ask the government to end its obstinacy and stubbornness and open talks toward withdrawing this law.

Do you think the many students and workers who have been fighting against this text for months ... will understand the president's decision (if he passes the law)? Do you think that will be a factor of appeasement, a solution for the country?

This is an unquestionable retreat. It is a grand success for the young and an impressive victory for the unity of the unions.

This means that he is opening a conflict ... so Jacques Chirac (must) step in.

There needs to be greater transparency. The French deserve to know the truth. They have the right to know the nature of the illness of their head of state.

This law cannot be applied everywhere, and it cannot be long-lasting.

I want to hear Jacques Chirac today. Where is the president when such serious events are taking place?

If he takes the other decision -- that's to say (enacting the law) -- then he will be opening a major crisis.

No one imposes things on anyone in Europe. That's not my notion, nor is it my temperament. The EU has always functioned under the banner of respect, equilibrium and trust.

Terrorism fuels itself from all kinds of illicit trafficking: drugs, weapons, human beings.

I'm not a lukewarm European. I know that the German-French friendship is indispensable, no matter who the countries' leaders are.

Symbols mean a lot in politics. They indicate a will and create new realities.

Mitterrand had a sense for symbols, and he was the first Socialist president since 1958. He wanted to show that there is historical continuity, a connection with the great figures of French history.

Germany and France are pinning their hopes on young people, in terms of education, science and innovation.

My adversary is the world of finance.

It will be very important for us to continue to keep up the necessary pressure, the necessary vigilance, for there to be peace in Ukraine, our trust in the goodwill of President (Vladimir) Putin is limited. It is why we have to maintain our decision about sanctions.

What is at stake is preserving our relations with the United States. They should not be changed because of what has happened. But trust has to be restored and reinforced.

Mandela's message will never die. It will continue to inspire freedom fighters and give confidence to people who defend just causes and universal rights.

The German-French friendship is indispensable for Europe. And I will never let myself be carried away to making statements that would change it.

Austerity need not be Europe's fate.

I commit myself to serve my country.

A large country with such outstanding economic performance as Germany cannot forget that it owes some of its success to demand from other European countries.

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.

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.

There cannot be prosperity without security.

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.

Today, Paris is the capital of the world.