Sarkozy in his own words: in France, in the UK and in the USA.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s book Temoignage, which was an incredible bestseller in France last summer (over 300,000 copies sold), is now out in English under the title Testimony. Here are some quotes from the book:
On stability:
In 27 years Great Britain has had three prime ministers; France has had 12. This figure is deeply shocking and demonstrates the vanity of our claims about the stability of our institutions.
On British people buying houses in France:
Do we ask ourselves why the English buy our houses in the Dordogne and the Périgord, in the Lubéron, in Savoy and in many other regions? … I have nothing against the English, who are our friends, but it is not my ambition that the most beautiful villages of France become holiday resorts reserved for the British.
On learning from other countries:
Our public debate is not sufficiently influenced by what others are doing: their successes, their ideas, and their setbacks. I have often wondered about the origin of our propensity to try everything that does not work and to frighten ourselves with everything that works for others. We would have so much to learn from the Danes, the Spanish, the English, the Germans and even…yes, the Americans.
On French people leaving France:
London has become the seventh largest French city. She ceaselessly sucks in thousands of young French people, who set up there – including my own daughter, as if it was easier to succeed there than at home. Or worse, as if to succeed here has become so shameful that a young person wanting to get on is obliged to leave.
And some spoof quotes from the Guardian:
My cherished France has indulged every illegal immigrant from a broken family while the great bourgeoisie has been ignored. So when the riots broke out in the suburbs, I decided assez was assez and sent in the CRS to wipe out the rabble. Some critics accused me of being racist for using the word rabble. How little they know me! I was merely protecting La Patrie from scum.
It is au dessous de moi to score points over my rivals. J’aime women and recognise they struggle to find a travail-vie balance. Especially if they want to be president. Vive La France!
Finally, a quote from a serious review in the Guardian:
It is difficult to see exactly who will be buying it. It is an odd book for an English reader. It reads like a hectoring, over-long speech at an overheated political rally. ‘For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to act,’ is the opening line [...] But to a British ear, invocations of the ‘nation’, the ‘homeland’ and so on have a bombastic air.
