Don't get bogged down by life and other people's problems or hang ups.

I am courageous at the decisive moment. But I need a good deal of start-up time, and I try to take as much as possible into consideration beforehand.

Freedom does not mean being free of something, but to be free to do something.

It is actually a very good thing, if after eight years of coverage the president of the United States [Barack Obama] says that this is a cooperation based on friendship that we cooperated well.

I am always on duty, even when I am at party events or on vacation. I don't complain about it, on the contrary. Time management for candidates without government functions is different than it is for me. No matter where I am, I always have to have my duties as chancellor in mind.

Our bilateral relations are very good, they’re very close. In the areas of business, of the economy, the United States of America last year were our most important trading partner.

I fortunately know very many people, and there are many, many more that I don't know and many politicians who stand up for the same values of democracy of liberal societies, of open societies of respect for the dignity of man.