Francois Hollande is the president of the republic, he must be respected. I want to wish him good luck in the midst of these tests.

Laissez-faire is finished. The all-powerful market that always knows best is finished.

The French like burgers, Madonna and Miami Vice.

I'm ready to become a French person amongst French people, and more than ever I have the love for my country deeply ingrained in my heart.

America did not tell the millions of men and women who came from every country in the world and who - with their hands, their intelligence and their heart - built the greatest nation in the world: "Come, and everything will be given to you." She said: "Come, and the only limits to what you'll be able to achieve will be your own courage and your own talent."

Perhaps the mistake I made at the start of my mandate is not understanding the symbolic dimension of the president's role and not being solemn enough in my acts. A mistake for which I would like to apologise or explain myself and which I will not make again. Now, I know the job.

I love life too much to be bitter.