Francois Hollande Quotes

The one thing I'm convinced George W. Bush is good at is bipartisanship. It's clearly something he enjoys personally.

I'm perhaps not the most tribal of politicians. Working in a mature and adult way where you recognise what your shared goal is and you manage to work towards that... that is not something which I think would be particularly more difficult with Labour than it is with the Conservatives.

I think that people have to reward those individuals who are prepared to work across the political aisle. I don't see any other way; if you don't talk to people with whom you disagree, you're never going to solve problems.

We welcome, we welcome this good cooperation between Russia and NATO.

There's no room for petty grievances in politics.

If you can't get along with the head of the government with which you are working, you won't get anything done—nothing!

I bet the hard liners in both our countries are bleeding when we shake hands.

Believe it or not, one of the things I try to do around here is try to look for opportunities to work with people across the aisle. I know that's not the common narrative. But the truth is if you want to get anything done, that's an absolute requirement.

There's certain things that we do work with Russia on, and then there's certain things when they do something wrong, I have no problem calling them out on it.

It is never helpful to point at sticking points, but it is always helpful to encourage one's partners to take a more active and forward-looking approach.

Coming from a smaller nation in Central Europe, I have learned pretty soon how important are agreed rules, cooperation, respect for partners and, most of all, willingness to listen and find common solutions.

I believe that our national security lies not just in protecting our borders, but in bridging divides.

Governments follow their people. A great deal has to do with the vision of the leadership of governments. They have a vision, and they translate that to their people and to their counterparts in other countries. You can fulfill and achieve a great deal if you get along well as individuals, as people, as persons.

I'm as frustrated with the French, I think, as anyone, but look, there's going to be other challenges and there are going to be other issues. As long as there's a war on terrorism going on, we're all going to have to work together.

We all read news stories about the difficulties and tensions that the United States has with our allies and even with coalition partners in Iraq, but we rarely read about the good news.

I'm not looking for a battle with anybody, neither the council nor our labor partners.

These are challenging times at home and around the world. We will have to work together in a bipartisan spirit and with our international partners if we are going to achieve progress and peace now and for future generations.

A constructive approach to diplomacy doesn't mean relinquishing one's rights. It means engaging with one's counterparts, on the basis of equal footing and mutual respect, to address shared concerns and achieve shared objectives.

I think a good relationship that Mexico could maintain with the United States and vice versa should be based on trust, on opening - openness and constant dialogue that would allow us essentially to define, share objectives and to work towards those so as to avoid activities which are not known to the other government.

We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analysing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will.

Costa Rica believes in building bridges, in looking for solutions to problems, and not clinging to positions.

Germany must be a country which generates political ideas and leadership, which is capable of compromise, which is sovereign and yet knows that it needs its partners on both sides of the Atlantic.

Between major countries, there certainly always are some common ground and points of tension.

Progress is only possible if the United States and its allies work together.

I've learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the autonomy of my work by pounding my fist on the table.