Politician

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.

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

When people come to write about my period of office, I would be very happy if they say that I made a contribution to finding the happy medium again for the Germans.

Nations with a common currency never went to war against each other. A common currency is more than the money you pay with.

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.

I don't want to give myself grades. I will leave evaluation of my achievements to history.

The army is under orders to defend every place.

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'.

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.

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

Peace must be more than the absence of war.

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

I ask myself where Germany stands today and where it wants to go.

German and European unification are two sides of the same coin.

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.

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

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

Where is Germany now and where does it want to go? It's a question being asked by our partners and allies abroad. We have to return - urgently - to our old dependability. We have to make clear for others what we stand for, where we're headed, and that we know where we belong.

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

I like everything that makes you fat.