Quotes from Habib Bourguiba

Break the fast, and you will be stronger to confront the enemy.

I have promised the Tunisian people that the French army will go, If I fail, I will be swept away.

Tunisia is always ready to turn the page.

Today I am the President of the Republic, but I will be the first to join the Maquis.

How many times, have I had to seat women whom I received at audiences next to me, rather than facing me, in order to avoid general embarrassment? Nothing should compel us to suffer such trials. It puts the nerves of men and the modesty of women to a severe test.

You are wrong. The state and its existence are essential before everything else. All this preoccupation with liberty is not serious.

At the moment of a revolution there is no question of setting up a democracy like that in America. If they accuse me of dictatorship, I accept. I am creating a nation. Liberty must be suppressed until the end of the war in Algeriauntil the nation becomes homogeneous.

I have carried this abscess too far, Tunisia is going through a difficult period. Freedom is dangerous.

Yes, I am Western, and I will remain so.

We have the proof that our disagreement with the U.A.R. is more than a simple misunderstanding.

While I am alive, not a hair on Jewish heads will be touched.

Basically and profoundly, we are with the West.

The only Jews who interest us are our fellow citizens.

When a house is on fire, the neighbors' duty is to put it out.