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" When I was elected to head the German government, I was fortunate enough to find a partner in Francois Mitterrand. "
Helmut Kohl
Head
Government
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" 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
" In German history, we don't have many reasons to be proud. "
Helmut Kohl
German
History
Many
" 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
" 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. "
Helmut Kohl
Time
Push
Power
" 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
" 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
" Our shared historical experiences led myself and Mitterrand to the decision that we must do everything to prevent further wars. "
Helmut Kohl
Myself
Historical
Everything
" The Christian Democrats always made you feel like the poor relation. "
Helmut Kohl
You
Always
Christian
" Peace must be more than the absence of war. "
Helmut Kohl
Peace
War
Than
" 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
" I don't want to give myself grades. I will leave evaluation of my achievements to history. "
Helmut Kohl
History
Grades
Leave
" 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
" There must be no question for us that we in the European Union and the eurozone stand by Greece in solidarity. "
Helmut Kohl
Solidarity
Question
Greece
" 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
" George Bush was for me the most important ally on the road to German unity. "
Helmut Kohl
Me
Most
Road
" 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
" 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
" 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
" Where there is no will, no rules or laws can help. "
Helmut Kohl
Rules
No Rules
Laws
" We were united not only by political respect for each other, but also by deep mutual sympathy as people. "
Helmut Kohl
People
Respect
Deep
" I have made a very good living, for more than 30 years, by being underestimated. "
Helmut Kohl
More
Than
Years
" 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
" 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
" German and European unification are two sides of the same coin. "
Helmut Kohl
Sides
Two
Coin
" 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. "
Helmut Kohl
Luck
Things Happen
Power
" 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
" I like everything that makes you fat. "
Helmut Kohl
Everything
You
Makes
" 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
" 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
" The army is under orders to defend every place. "
Helmut Kohl
Army
Defend
Place