Pierre Bourgault Quotes

We want a country. and we will get it, our country.

Our ancestors have always regarded independence as fundamental to the concept of a nation.

I am now to address a free people: ages have passed away, and this is first moment you could be distinguished by that appellation…. Your genius has prevailed! Ireland is now a nation! In that new character I hail her! And bowing to her august presence, I say, Esto perpetua.

We take back control of our laws and Britain will be a proud independent nation again.

We're an independent sovereign country and that's very important to Monaco.

If you believe you're a nation, then I accept you as a nation.

We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked, but not comprised. We are interested and associated, but not absorbed. And should European statesmen address us in the words which were used of old — “Shall I speak for thee to the King or the Captain of the host?” — we should reply with the Shunamite woman: “Nay, Sir, for we dwell among our own people.”

Henceforth, we shall be happy to be a free citizen in an independent country.

Egypt is a sovereign nation.

I am very aware of how warmly Scotland is regarded around the world, and a vote for self-determination would raise our international profile even further, with lots of benefits for Scottish arts and culture.

To be called a sovereign nation, a nation has to be able to control its own borders. It is controlling your own destiny in a way, and we don't control our own borders.

America was born out of a desire for self-determination, a longing for the human dignity that only independence can bring.

Independence is not a whim or an ambition. It is the necessary condition of our survival as an ethnic group.

I believe that ultimately the situation in Kosovo can only be resolved through self-determination.

Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, however noble and great the latter may be.

In the 1999 resolution regarding Taiwan's future passed by the Democratic Progressive Party, it is stated very clearly that any change to the status quo of Taiwan must be decided by the people of Taiwan through referenda.

We're not trying to take back our country. We are our country.

Declaring independence was the most traumatic decision I had to live up to. Because I didn't want to do it.

Argentina wouldn't exist if not for self-determination, and this can't be valid for some but not for others.

Hungary together with her annexed territories is independent and should be governed and administered according to her own laws and customs and not as other provinces are.

When you have people in a geographical area who do not want to be a part of a country, you cannot keep them in that country forever.

We do not want to be anybody's pawns. We are an ancient people. We want our autonomy. We want sarbasti—freedom. I do not know who will take my place one day. But they cannot crush us.

I hope we shall never be disposed to offer to join the United States. They will display a great reluctance to take us but I believe we have a future of our own here.

We're seeking sovereignty because it is absolutely essential, like the ripening of the fruit, like reaching adulthood, like the opening of river into the ocean. It is necessary because we are a people.

I wished only the well-being of my country in insurrection and independence.