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" 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. "

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" 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

" 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

Strength

" 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'. "

" In a democracy, if you don't get the votes, nothing else is possible, no matter how wonderful your dreams. "

" Russia is Germany's most important neighbor in the East, and it will remain so. "

" Peace must be more than the absence of war. "

" Our shared historical experiences led myself and Mitterrand to the decision that we must do everything to prevent further wars. "

" The army is under orders to defend every place. "

" If a Chancellor is trying to push something through, he must be a man of power. And if he's smart, he knows when the time is ripe. In one case - the euro - I was like a dictator... The euro is a synonym for Europe. "

" The Christian Democrats always made you feel like the poor relation. "

" 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

Car

Labor

" George Bush was for me the most important ally on the road to German unity. "

Helmut Kohl

Most

Road

" 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. "

" 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. "

" There must be no question for us that we in the European Union and the eurozone stand by Greece in solidarity. "

" 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. "

" It was a stroke of luck that there were about four to six leaders in power in the mid-'80s who really trusted one another and could really make things happen. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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

Enough

" I have made a very good living, for more than 30 years, by being underestimated. "

Helmut Kohl

Than

Years

" 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. "

" In German history, we don't have many reasons to be proud. "

" We humans have an abyss inside us. The more power people have, the greater the danger. "

" 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. "

" I experienced Nazism as a child. Like many of my generation, I was motivated by the desire to prevent another war at any price. "

" When I was elected to head the German government, I was fortunate enough to find a partner in Francois Mitterrand. "

" I like everything that makes you fat. "

" Solitary decisions, no matter how well-founded they may appear to individuals, must belong to the past - along with national, unilateralist action. "

" For me it is completely clear that our air bases in Germany would be available to the Americans. "

Helmut Kohl

Clear

Germany