Every democratic system evolves its own conventions. It is not only the water but the banks which make the river.

A nation' s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others.

My father cared very much about courage, physical courage as well. He despised those who didn't have it. But he never said to me, 'I want you to be courageous.' He just smiled with pride every time I did something difficult or won a race with the boys.

I'm not interested in one label or the other - I'm only interested in solving certain problems, in getting where I want to go.

Forgiveness is the virtue of Brave.

You soon realize that the peak you've climbed was one of the lowest, that the mountain was part of a chain of mountains, that there are still so many, so many mountains to climb...And the more you climb, the more you want to climb - even though you're dead tired.

I discovered [Joan of Arc] toward the age of ten or twelve, when I went to France. I don't remember where I read about her, but I recall that she immediately took on a definite importance for me. I wanted to sacrifice my life for my country. It seems like foolishness and yet...what happens when we're children is engraved forever on our lives.