Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" Countries are not like financial markets. Social change cannot be executed as swiftly as credit-default swaps. You cannot sell short on social commitments and practical responsibilities. "

George Papandreou

You

Change

Related Quotes:

" We in Europe have great capacities. "

" If we were going to default, we would have decided that many months ago. It would be wrong for the Greek economy, it would be wrong for the European economy, it would make things worse in the end. That's why we're taking the pain and making these structural reforms, and we're on target. "

" Many people have been pontificating, and patronizing, and moralizing, and scapegoating, saying you Greeks, you are the problem. I would say we Greeks have a problem. We are not the problem. "

" My hope is that we will turn Greece into maybe the most transparent country in the world with everything on the web. "

" If we had a consensus we wouldn't have to go to a referendum. "

" Everyone needs to carry out his own personal revolution. "

" I would say we are a friend in need and I am sure that the Greek people would very much welcome the choice of the British people to come and enjoy Greece, first of all, but also that would be a sign of support. "

" We Greeks want change. We know there are problems in our system. We have great potential but we need to manage our country well. Now that hasn't been done over the last decades. And that is, of course, what we are paying for. "

" We are a country with great potential. We have the political will to make deep changes in a just and equitable way, to put our country back on a development path, to meet the challenges of a new world. "

" Greece's history in the drachma was an up-and-down history, a roller coaster. "

" People would say you look weak if you're not cursing the opposition and driving around in a big black car while always wearing a tie. Above all, to be 'strong' you're always supposed to be giving orders. "

" We have made major reforms in Greece. When I took over after a landslide victory we had a mandate for change and I knew my major focus would be re-organizing the state. "

" Greece has great strengths, but much of this potential has been wasted. That's because of a wider political system, but also because of a lack of an institutional framework. "

" In ancient Greece, politics and the market were not decoupled. "

" We had about 60 regions in Greece and now there are only 13. It'd be like cutting down 50 states to 13 and making it more efficient. "

" Already people are saying we do need a change. "

" There is this concept of politics as a dirty game. "

" I will always be upfront with the Greek people, so we can solve the country's problems together. "

" This idea that you're a successful tough guy if you evade taxes and deceive the state has got to change. "

" I never thought of politics as a profession. "

" Markets themselves are looking for stability, and I think we have underestimated the capacity of Europe... to actually create a more stable framework for the whole issue of debt management, bonds, and so on. "

" The unemployed in Greece can get a voucher and choose a training program somewhere in Europe to be retrained during this crisis and when this crisis is over, we make sure that that person hasn't fallen off the cliff and can come back into the labor market with new skills to find a job. "

" Despite the deep reforms we are making, traders and speculators have forced interest rates on Greek bonds to record highs. "

" We are on a difficult course, on a new Odyssey for Greece, but we know the road to Ithaca and have charted the waters. "

" First of all, Greece won't go down. We're talking about a country that is capable of making change. Europe will not allow the destabilization of the 27-country euro zone. But if there were no action, then markets would start becoming jittery about other countries - and not only Spain and Portugal, but other countries in the European Union. "

" The more there is a European solution to a theoretical, but possible, problem in the markets, the less we will have to talk about an I.M.F. solution. "

" I am proud of being a Greek of the diaspora. "

George Papandreou

Being

Greek

" I have been supporting the European Union, but we are still a work in progress. We have to become more of a United States of Europe. We should talk about electing a president of the E.U., rather than having one selected from the heads of government. "

" There are certain moments in the history of a nation when the choices made define the decades to come. "

" The fact that we're going through a crisis is an opportunity for Europe to be more coordinated and more integrated. We're actually talking about a European Monetary Fund or euro bonds, about guarantees for countries, about economic governance in the European Union. That shows the strength of Europe. "