I come from a small town and I come from a background where we didn't have money to travel. I thought I'd have to join the military to get to Europe. So I'm thrilled to travel.

The time to enjoy a European trip is about three weeks after unpacking.

Which European leader today would not relish the wonder-working powers of a Moses? Budget deficit? Unpopular cuts? How about just a little miracle an overnight increase in gold reserves a new oil field or the next world-changing communications technology? Surely that's not too much to ask.

Anyone who has to fight even with the most modern weapons against an enemy in complete command of the air fights like a savage against modern European troops under the same handicaps and with the same chances of success.

But I think it's more normal for my team to have no success than it is to win two consecutive European cups.

Margaret Thatcher was fearful of German unification because she believed that this would bring an immediate and formidable increase of economic strength to a Germany which was already the strongest economic partner in Europe.

The single currency should allow the European Union and therefore France to balance its monetary strength with the United States. It should help us adjust to the development of China.

Europe has a lot of strength. We need to pool that strength and I am very much in favour of that - more of a deeper political union.

The fact that we're going through a crisis is an opportunity for Europe to be more coordinated and more integrated. We're actually talking about a European Monetary Fund or euro bonds about guarantees for countries about economic governance in the European Union. That shows the strength of Europe.

Terrorists have failed to trigger mass conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe. We should draw strength from that fact.

We've got to demonstrate why European unity and integration our vast single market our single currency equip us with the strength to embrace globalization.

So Europe needs to be competitive and we also need to be competitive if we wish to remain an interesting economic partner for the United States. This has to be done on the basis of strength of competitiveness.

It certainly is dangerous that there are only a few clubs left in Europe that can afford to pay millions. At the end of the day however the spectators decide the rates of pay - by watching the games and consuming the goods and services advertised on sports TV programmes.

Europeans say they are proud of their social fabric of strong rights for workers and the weak in society.

American high school students trail teenagers from 14 European and Asian countries in reading math and science. We're even trailing France.

In the post-enlightenment Europe of the 19th century the highest authority was no longer the Church. Instead it was science. Thus was born racial anti-Semitism based on two disciplines regarded as science in their day - the 'scientific study of race' and the Social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer and Ernst Haeckel.

You can find academic and industrial groups doing some relevant work but there isn't a focus on building complex molecular systems. In that respect Japan is first Europe is second and we're third.

I have the most profound respect for the Department of Justice and the FTC. We in Europe are a younger and I would say junior institution to the historical antitrust experience of the US.

The territorial state is such an ancient form of society - here in Europe it dates back thousands of years - that it is now protected by the sanctity of age and the glory of tradition. A strong religious feeling mingles with the respect and the devotion to the fatherland.

I think Europeans have enough tradition and respect for the experience and body of work of an actress that they don't sell out to the new ones.

We are not directly involved in Syria. But we will be working with our partners in the European Union and at the United Nations to see if we can persuade the Syrian authorities to go as I say more in that direction of respect for democracy and human rights.

In Europe art has to a large degree taken the place of religion. In America it seems rather to be science.

The Left is doing to America what it has done to almost everything it has deeply influenced - the arts the university religion culture minorities Europe: ruining it.

In the beginning New York and I had kind of a love-hate relationship. It seemed so abrasive compared to Europe. But the transformation here in recent years is really something. I don't think I would have seen as much change if I'd lived in any other city in the world.