There is a belief that love has its own justification, that it should be experienced as passionately as possible. The French have a wonderful expression, amour passion, which is the ultimate.
I wholeheartedly welcomed Charles de Gaulle eulogy of French valour, to which he attributed the liberation of Paris.
Just because you win the French Open it doesn't mean you can do well at Wimbledon.
It is sometimes tougher to fight my superiors than the French.
The French like burgers, Madonna and Miami Vice.
Maybe the French will get a manned craft into space if they can get a rocket strong enough to lift a bottle of wine.
Making choices that are meaningful to you is the essence of the French woman's secret.
For my Oxford degree, I had to translate French and German philosophy (as it turned out, Descartes and Kant) at sight without a dictionary. That meant Germany for my first summer vacation, to learn the thorny language on my own.
Personally, I don't think it's possible to do great things alone or through individual actions. On the contrary, I think it is only possible to know what to do in a specific moment once you have understood the zeitgeist, and it is only possible to move things forward if you have a sense of responsibility. And that is exactly the goal I have set for myself: to try to encourage France and the French people to change and develop further.
I don't think it's by accident that I was first attracted to translating two French women poets.
Being French, to me, is first and foremost being a revolutionary.
Today one might be tempted to say that patriotism is the last refuge of the tribal religion dedicated to the worship of German, French, English and Russian Gods of Battles. Surely such a religion has nothing in common with the religion which counsels for the disciple non-resistance, unstinted forgiveness, and the elimination of all rancor?
Wine is a part of society because it provides a basis not only for a morality but also for an environment; it is an ornament in the slightest ceremonials of French daily life, from the snack to the feast, from the conversation at the local cafT to the speech at a formal dinner.
I know you have not thought about it. Italians always act without thinking, it's the glory and the downfall of your civilisation. A German plans a month in advance what his bowel movements will be at Easter, and the British plan everything in retrospect, so it always looks as though everything occurred as they intended. The French plan everything whilst appearing to be having a party, and the Spanish. . . well, God knows. Anyway, Pelagia is Greek, that's my point.
Real French people don't bake! At least they don't bake anything complicated, finicky, tricky or unreliable.
Movies in this country, its very complicated, and we could bang on about it forever, but the French movie industry is very different because its very obviously French.
I am the first prime minister of this country of neither English nor French origin. So I determined to bring about a Canadian citizenship that knew no hyphenated consideration. . . . I'm very happy to be able to say that in the House of Commons today in my party we have members of Italian, Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Chinese and Ukrainian origin and they are all Canadians.
Moreover, there is this completely false trial. I would participate wholeheartedly in a trial if it were to determine the guilt for 5 million murdered people and the guilt for the atrocities. But I see in this trial endless other things brought out and I have the feeling that in the shadow of the guilt of these murders the German people shall be considered guilty of everything, and in the shadow of this guilt the Americans, English, French, and especially the Russians will want to get rid of their own dirty linen.
I guess being French, I love Hollywood. I love Hollywood movies. Joseph Mankiewicz's 'All About Eve. ' 'Mildred Pierce. '
Sure, I watched a lot of Hollywood movies. Maybe I've seen more Hollywood movies than French movies