Let them be reassured, it has never been one of our intentions to ban religion in society, but solely to protect the national education system from any conspicuous display of religious affiliation.

We believe that the European Union is facing a truly historic choice.

There have been major disagreements within the European Union.

This constitution recognises the need for social dialogue involving labour and management; it involves trade unions in the decision-making process; it has a social vision founded on social dialogue.

The Republic is open and tolerant but also knows how and when to be firm and make its values respected.

It's important to show that, while authorizing the demonstrations and promoting diversity of opinion, the Republic can't allow itself to be undermined from within.

I believe that transatlantic relations are very important and that President Bush's visit to Brussels, in a few days, will have a major impact on that.

It's a different outlook, and one that I understand. When you are a former member of the Warsaw Pact, when you have lived behind the Berlin Wall, when you have experienced the communist systems that existed in these countries, for them, the West represents hope.

We feel an enormous sense of gratitude towards the American people.

We must stress that the euro has been beneficial to the European Union because, otherwise, in this context of international turmoil, every country would have to devalue their currencies.

I think that the proposed constitution is one of the European legal documents with the strongest social dimension I have seen since I began following European issues.

I tell fundamentalists that there is no question of them attacking our Republic's foundations.

Let them be reassured, it has never been one of our intentions to ban religion in society, but solely to protect the national education system from any conspicuous display of religious affiliation.

Europe started out with six countries; three small countries and three large countries.

We would like UN resolutions to be enforced, including on Iraq.

We have come a long way in terms of foreign policy.

A country like France now does two-thirds of its trade within the euro zone.

Obviously, there is diversity, but Europe is a union of diversity.

We shall say clearly that any symbol conspicuously displaying religious affiliation in school is prohibited.

Prohibiting a visible religious sign, which isn't a manifestation of militancy, would look like a fight against religions.

I was a Member of the European Parliament for a period of time and I saw a lot of European laws and treaties.

I am a believer, but I affirm that in public buildings the law of the Republic overrides religious rules.

It's true that the question of Iraq divided Europe.

France has a very important relationship with Germany. But that does not mean that we agree about everything or that two of our universities or companies are not going to compete.

The Europe we are in the process of building is the Europe of the 21st century; it's not the Europe of the 20th century.

The United States, for a French citizen, is a friend, an ally, to whom we owe, along with most Europeans, our freedom.

What's very important is that we build a space that matters in the world, one that operates according to democratic rules, and that small and large countries enjoy a good relationship.

But the Republic has its rules and it must not tolerate any abuse of them.

When I see the cultural diversity that exists today, I feel that we must defend it, and we need Europe, because otherwise we are going to live in a society with a single model, the Anglo-American model.

I think that we must come together progressively, with the British, the Germans, the Spanish, the Italians and with the new members of the European Union, we must make an effort to forge closer links.

Education is the cornerstone of our communities and our country.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

I feel that education needs an overhaul - courses are obsolete and grades are on the way out.

Education is a private matter between the person and the world of knowledge and experience, and has little to do with school or college.

Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work.

The education of my brother and myself was of paramount importance to my parents, and in addition to their strong encouragement, they were prepared to make any sacrifice to further our intellectual development.

We have a responsibility to ensure that every individual has the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, from prekindergarten to elementary and secondary, to special education, to technical and higher education and beyond.

Yesterday in this country we had people die of hunger and malnutrition. In some parts of this country, the infant mortality rate rivals that of sub-Saharan Africa. We have a public education system that ranks below that of almost any other Western nation.

The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the exercise of his mind.

We spend more than a million dollars a year on our colleges and university, and it is money well spent; but we must have education that fits not the few but the many for the business of life.

Every single major push in education has made it worse and right now it's really bad because everything we've done is de-humanizing education. It's destroying the possibility of the teacher and the student having a warm, friendly, intellectual relationship.

It is only the ignorant who despise education.

The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused through a community, are essential to the preservation of a free government.

When the students are occupied, they're not juvenile delinquents. I believe that education is a capital investment.

Don't give up on the child. Give the child an education. Give them daily love.

Education is our greatest opportunity to give an irrevocable gift to the next generation.

If you stop and think about our history, one of the reasons we had an American century and there is an American dream was because at key points in our history we made very bold decisions about making sure that there was very broad, universal access to quality education.

And I also thought that Richard Nixon was the greatest political education we have ever had, but it looks like we need to relearn them again.

I am playing the violin, that's all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day.