Euro Quotes

• There is no question that a breakup of the euro would be very damaging, very costly, both financially and politically. And the biggest loss would be incurred by Germany. Germans have to bear in mind that, effectively, they have suffered practically no losses so far. Transfers have all been in the form of loans, and it is only when the loans are not repaid that real losses will be incurred.

  George Soros

  Breakup, Real, Loss

  Source: www.spiegel.de

  15 Copy quote

  Show source

• This is the joint responsibility of everyone who was involved in the introduction of the euro without understanding the consequences. When the euro was introduced, the regulators allowed banks to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds without setting aside any equity capital. And the European Central Bank discounted all government bonds on equal terms. So commercial banks found it advantageous to accumulate the bonds of the weaker countries to earn a few extra basis points.

  George Soros

  Country, Responsibility, Government

  "George Soros on the Euro Crisis". Interview with Der Spiegel, www.georgesoros.com. June 26, 2012.

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• I have always found the word 'Europe' on the lips of those who wanted something from others which they dared not demand in their own names!

  Otto von Bismarck

  Europe, Names, Demand

  73 Copy quote

• Argentina won't be at Euro 2000 because they're from South America.

  Kevin Keegan

  America, Argentina, Kevin

  53 Copy quote

• The euro pleases dispirited people for whom European history is not Chartres and Shakespeare but the Holocaust and the Somme. The euro expresses cultural despair.

  George Will

  People, Holocaust, Despair

  4 Copy quote

• If the euro becomes a factor promoting Europe's drifting apart, then the foundation of the European project is destroyed.

  Mario Monti

  Europe, Foundation, Projects

  9 Copy quote

• At Euro '92 itself, we bowed out to the eventual winners, Denmark, in our final group match.

  Michel Patini

  Groups, Finals, Denmark

  7 Copy quote

• The vast majority of Greeks accept the need for reform and want to keep our country inside the euro zone.

  Evangelos Venizelos

  Country, Greek, Majority

  4 Copy quote

• We only have a Plan A. The acceptance and full implementation of the existing plan, the so-called Plan A, is the best solution for Greece, for the euro zone and also for creditors and holders.

  Evangelos Venizelos

  Acceptance, Creditors, Plans

  6 Copy quote

• The designs of the paper euros, introduced in 2002, proclaim a utopian aspiration. Gone are the colorful bills of particular nations, featuring pictures of national heroes of statecraft, culture and the arts, pictures celebrating unique national narratives. With the euro, 16 nations have said goodbye to all that.

  George Will

  Goodbye, Art, Hero

  4 Copy quote

• The euro currency both presupposes and promotes a fiction - that 'Europe' has somehow become, against the wishes of most Europeans, a political rather than a merely geographic expression.

  George Will

  Expression, Europe, Political

  4 Copy quote

• Jim eyed me for a couple of seconds, then got off the bed and went to curl up on the pile of blankets I'd arranged as its bed. "I don't suppose you'd care to lend me a couple hundred euros?" I pointed at the wall. It turned its back to me so I could get into the nightgown Perdita had lent me. "You are not going to bet on me. Or against me. No betting whatsoever. Got that?" Jim huffed and settled down for the night. "You sure do know how to take all the fun out of life. Bet you even made Drake use a condom.

  Katie MacAlister

  Wall, Couple, Fun

  4 Copy quote

• There is an interior style we intellectuals and design policy wonks know as Haut Euro Pooftastic, which really takes the biscuit.

  Peter York

  Design, Style, Biscuits

  8 Copy quote

• The fusion (of economic functions) would compel nations to fuse their sovereignty into that of a single European State.

  Jean Monnet

  Europe, Fusion, Economic

  168 Copy quote

• Europe and the euro zone have no reason, rationally, to push Greece out of the euro. But this is a system in which many parties, many countries, many governments, many electorates participate and we could have events which, rationally, are not controllable.

  Evangelos Venizelos

  Country, Party, Government

  4 Copy quote

• I think it's often discussed that leaving the Euro is an option for Greece. I think this is really not an option.

  Lucas Papademos

  Thinking, Leaving, Greece

  CNBC Transcript: CNBC'S Chief International Correspondent Michelle Caruso-Cabrera Speaks With Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, www.cnbc.com. January 15, 2012.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Not all Greeks are ready to do whatever is necessary to stay in the euro.

  Mario Monti

  Greek, Ready

  4 Copy quote

• Most of what needs to be changed in the euro zone can be done without treaty changes. The demand for treaty change is as political as it is legal and I don't think it's going to happen soon.

  Nick Clegg

  Thinking, Political, Needs

  7 Copy quote

• We are keen to stress that a strong euro zone is good for a strong United Kingdom. It's not for us to write the changes that the euro zone needs to embark on.

  Nick Clegg

  Strong, Stress, Writing

  7 Copy quote

• You've got some very powerful countries: Poland, the United Kingdom, Sweden and others who have a genuine desire to see the euro zone straighten itself out. It's good for all of us, whether you're in the euro zone or not, to make sure that it doesn't lead to a fracturing.

  Nick Clegg

  Country, Powerful, Desire

  12 Copy quote

• Is Europe going to be breaking? I don't think so. I think the euro will stay. I think at the end of the day Europeans will find the solutions in order to hold Europe together.

  Carlos Ghosn

  Thinking, Order, Europe

  4 Copy quote

• I described the euro as a burning building with no exits and so it has proved for some of the countries in it.

  William Hague

  Country, Burning, Exit

  9 Copy quote

• It will not be possible to solve the current crisis with euro bonds.

  Angela Merkel

  Currents, Crisis, Solve

  "Oil prices drop as Libyan rebels sweep into Tripoli" by Julia Kollewe, www.theguardian.com. August 22, 2011.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I don't want euro bonds that serve to mutualize the entire debt of the countries in the euro zone. That can only work in the longer-term. I want euro bonds to be used to finance targeted investments in future-oriented growth projects. It isn't the same thing. Let's call them 'project bonds' instead of euro bonds.

  Francois Hollande

  Country, Growth, Debt

  4 Copy quote

• I think that France has not made it clear enough recently to our German friends how important it is to introduce euro bonds as a tool against speculation. And how the necessary budget discipline needs to be accompanied by growth.

  Francois Hollande

  Thinking, Discipline, Growth

  "French Presidential Candidate Hollande 'They'll Have to Listen to Me'". Interview with Mathieu von Rohr and Romain Leick, www.spiegel.de. March 12, 2012.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source