"We are near, very near, to an end to the eurozone crisis... The worst - in the sense of the fear of the eurozone breaking up - is over. But the best isn't there yet."

"I know where I'm going and I have told the French. I am sure if hope is there, we will be able to put France back on its feet... to live better in five years than we do today."

"I perfectly understood President Obama's attitude throughout the French presidential campaign. He had no reason to distance himself from Nicolas Sarkozy. It's the basic solidarity that leaders who worked together owe to each other."

"I attach the greatest importance to an amplification of the peace efforts in the Middle East. I would also like to see a greater dialogue between the U.S. and the EU."

"He who stands with his face to the East in the morning will have the sun before him. If he does not change his posture, the Earth in the meantime having changed its, he will have the sun no longer before him, but behind."

"A change in bad habits leads to a change in life."

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow."

"The simplest truths often reveal that every challenge is an invitation to grow stronger."