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" 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. "

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" If Greece had gone through a very normal political life, I may have not been in politics. But just the fact that I lived through huge upheavals and very difficult struggles and polarization and the barbarism of dictatorships - that made me feel that we had to change this country. "

George Papandreou

Politics

Political

Life

" As long as I feel I am doing what I think is right and just for my country, for the Greek people, that is enough for me. Saving Greece from this crisis was the first thing on the agenda. We are now on a much more normalised road. "

George Papandreou

Think

Long

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

" Every leader wants to put his or her imprint on the work that they do, and grow up in specific eras. "

George Papandreou

Work

Grow

" When I was growing up in the United States and Sweden, I never thought about becoming a politician. "

" 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. "

" I have a deep sense of responsibility to my country and Greek people. "

" If we were the problem, it would be very convenient - kick Greece out, everything's fine. What would happen to Spain, what about Portugal, what about Italy, what about the whole of the euro zone? We need more cooperation and less simplification and prejudice. "

" I think there is a heritage which I'm proud of, which is a fight for democracy, a fight for social justice, a fight for freedom. My grandfather went to jail or exile six times in his life, fighting for his principles for democracy, or for his country. And my father twice. "

" We have a rise of extremism because we need to give a sense that we are targeting some of the deeper problems in Greece, the injustices. "

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

" Very often, people will come out and say, 'Greeks aren't doing things, Greeks aren't making changes, there's no reform,' That is hogwash. We have made a huge effort. The Greek people have made a huge effort. "

" How can a parliamentarian or a leader in a country say, on the one hand, that we're going to support Greece but at the same time say that Greeks are lazy? "

" 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. "

" I would like to see Greece as a case study, an opportunity for Europe to strengthen its coordination of fiscal policy. "

George Papandreou

Opportunity

Study

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

" 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. "

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

" 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. "

" Markets are saying pretty much what I'm saying too: that Greece is doing what it can, but that Greece is not going to be able to carry the weight of all of Europe and the other problems that Europe has. "

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

" We in Europe have great capacities. "

" The Marshall Plan was after destruction, and the U.S. came to our help and obviously this was very, very important for the future of Europe. I think now we have all the capabilities of doing it on our own and, in a sense, we have to. "

" But sovereign debt is a wider question not only in Europe but across the globe. While every country is a unique case, I think it's not an issue of countries acting on their own. We need a more coordinated strategy not only in Europe but around the world. "

" Greece has given Europe the opportunity to fix a defect in the euro zone, that is the fact that we did not have a fiscal union. Now steps have been taken to begin that process. And there is more solidarity from nation to nation, and that is a good thing. That has been Greece's gift to Europe. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Unfortunately, corruption is widespread in government agencies and public enterprises. Our political system promotes nepotism and wasting money. This has undermined our legal system and confidence in the functioning of the state. One of the consequences is that many citizens don't pay their taxes. "

" Europe has a lot of strength. We need to pool that strength, and I am very much in favour of that - more of a deeper political union. "