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" George Bush was for me the most important ally on the road to German unity. "
Helmut Kohl
Me
Most
Road
Related Quotes:
" I don't want to give myself grades. I will leave evaluation of my achievements to history. "
Helmut Kohl
History
Grades
Leave
" We all need Europe, not just those of us in Europe. And we Germans need Europe more than the others. Germany is the country with the longest border, the most neighbours, and is, by population and economic strength, the number one in Europe. "
Helmut Kohl
Need
More
Strength
" Gorbachev's legacy is that he called time on communism, partially against his will, but in fact, he finished it off. Without violence. Without bloodshed. Beyond that, I am struggling to think of much else in terms of real legacy. "
Helmut Kohl
Think
Time
I Am
" I knew that I could never win a referendum in Germany. We would have lost a referendum on the introduction of the euro. That's quite clear. I would have lost, and by seven to three. "
Helmut Kohl
Introduction
Win
Three
" As a German, in view of the history of World War II and the terrible deeds of the Nazi period, I feel a special obligation to help as much as I can to develop European-Israeli relations and thus contribute to ensuring Israel's future and existence. "
Helmut Kohl
View
World
Future
" I like everything that makes you fat. "
Helmut Kohl
Everything
You
Makes
" My parents were Christians - Catholics, but not in the close-minded sense. I remember my mother to be a very pious woman, but she was never against other religions. "
Helmut Kohl
Remember
Mother
Woman
" German and European unification are two sides of the same coin. "
Helmut Kohl
Sides
Two
Coin
" In German history, we don't have many reasons to be proud. "
Helmut Kohl
German
History
Many
" Russia is Germany's most important neighbor in the East, and it will remain so. "
Helmut Kohl
Important
Most
Russia
" Europe has, to put it mildly, been in a poor state since the transition to the 21st century. This is down to national issues, European missteps, and an economic and financial crisis that crashed down on us with enough force to dislodge the essential European idea. "
Helmut Kohl
Down
Us
Enough
" Political life is like this - elections go back and forth. Representative democracy can only be successful if one sits down and says, 'That's it. I will connect myself,' - as I did - 'connect my existence to a political project.' Then you automatically have in your party a lot of people who say, 'If that fails, so do I'. "
Helmut Kohl
Life
Democracy
Myself
" My childhood ended in 1942. I was 12, and for the next three years, I lived under incessant bombings. It was a life of constant fear. "
Helmut Kohl
Life
Childhood
Fear
" You didn't just pay lip service to the goal of overcoming the division of Europe and Germany... Rather, you put yourself at the forefront of those who encouraged us on the way to unity. "
Helmut Kohl
Yourself
Us
Service
" The Christian Democrats always made you feel like the poor relation. "
Helmut Kohl
You
Always
Christian
" Two decisions have damaged the stability both of the euro and of Europe: the premature admission of Greece to the euro area and the breach and subsequent weakening of the stability and growth pact. "
Helmut Kohl
Both
Two
Decisions
" Peace must be more than the absence of war. "
Helmut Kohl
Peace
War
Than
" In a democracy, if you don't get the votes, nothing else is possible, no matter how wonderful your dreams. "
Helmut Kohl
Democracy
You
Your Dreams
" I experienced Nazism as a child. Like many of my generation, I was motivated by the desire to prevent another war at any price. "
Helmut Kohl
War
Price
Generation
" I have been underestimated for decades. I have done very well that way. "
Helmut Kohl
Decades
Been
Way
" As a child, I personally didn't really get to know any Jews. I was eight years old when the Night of Broken Glass happened. And Ludwigshafen was purely a workers' city, so we didn't have a very big Jewish community. What I did know about the Jews, I heard from my mother. My mother was very much pro-Jewish. "
Helmut Kohl
Mother
Night
Broken
" We were united not only by political respect for each other, but also by deep mutual sympathy as people. "
Helmut Kohl
People
Respect
Deep
" Nations with a common currency never went to war against each other. A common currency is more than the money you pay with. "
Helmut Kohl
Never
More
Money
" I have every reason, despite the resentment and exasperation, to be proud. I have nothing better to be proud of than being proud of German unity. "
Helmut Kohl
Unity
Proud
Nothing
" Isolated decisions, however well-founded they might seem to the individual, and national go-it-alone moves must belong to the past. They should not be the 21st-century method of choice, particularly because the consequences of the European community's actions must often be carried collectively. "
Helmut Kohl
Community
Decisions
Seem
" Where there is no will, no rules or laws can help. "
Helmut Kohl
Rules
No Rules
Laws
" I have made a very good living, for more than 30 years, by being underestimated. "
Helmut Kohl
More
Than
Years
" People in Tel Aviv can not imagine, but in 1990, here in Leipzig or Dresden, whoever wanted to buy a car had to wait 14 years. The East Germans worked like people in the West, but the fruits of their labor were harvested by a criminal regime. "
Helmut Kohl
Like
Car
Labor
" We Germans have learned from history. We are a peace-loving, freedom-loving people. There is only one place for us in the world: at the side of the free nations. "
Helmut Kohl
People
Free
World
" We humans have an abyss inside us. The more power people have, the greater the danger. "
Helmut Kohl
Abyss
People
Inside