"France is a country that eats, drinks and breathes philosophy. There is not a farmer, fisherman, waiter, car-worker, shop assistant or housewife who isn't a closet Diderot or Descartes, a Saint-Simon or a Sartre."

"French politicians look smart because power itself is chic, attractive, seductive, and one should dress to look the part. The French electorate would never allow any government to intervene in their lives if it were shabbily dressed."