"I believe in the forces of the spirit, and I won't leave you."

François Mitterrand Politics See all quotes by François Mitterrand →

React to this quote

More by François Mitterrand

“There exists in our country a solid continuity of Bonapartism, where the vocation for grandeur of France, the monarchist tradition, and the passion for national unity, the Jacobin tradition get together.”

“In such countries, genocide is not too important…”

“French President Poll”

“A man loses contact with reality if he is not surrounded by his books.”

“For me Greece is Maria Farantouri. This is how I imagined Goddess Hera to be: strong, pure and vigilant. I have never encountered any other artist able to give me such a strong sense of the divine.”

“Mitterrand's Legacy" in The Nation”

Resonant Thoughts

"All primitive people thought that a lunatic was possessed by a spirit. When his incoherent words more or less accord with the moral prejudices of the time, the spirit is a good one, and the man i s a …"

— André Maurois

opinion journalism1885–1967

#justice

"“For an intelligent man,” snapped Reith, “you are extremely obstinate and unimaginative. Someday I am sure you will recognize your error; until then, believe whatever you care to believe."

— Jack Vance

Literature1916–2013

#time

"Venezuela is a friendly country. Venezuelans do not hate the United States; on the contrary, we appreciate the United States, their culture, their arts, their society. We differ from the imperial conc…"

— Nicolás Maduro

Politics1962

#friendship

"I have often asked myself whether, given the choice, I would choose to have manic-depressive illness. ... Strangely enough, I think I would choose to have it. It's complicated. Depression is awful bey…"

— Kay Redfield Jamison

Psychology1946

#mind