Three quotes by him, one about him; a short overview of his personality and vision.
“Papers are fine, reports are fine…but what counts is the understanding of the citizens. Nothing is more dangerous than confusion”
Jean Monnet
“We (the institutions) are not the ones limiting the community.
They are those who do not want to accept the rules”
“Times have changed. The time when we discussed the objective is gone.
The objective is common, it’s Europe.“
“He was not an utopian. Though, he had an impregnable long term optimism. He believed that logic and still more important, history, was on his side”.
Roy Jenkins
“He was not modest (…) but his pride was all devoted to achievements and not to self aggrandizement. (…) There are two kind of people: those who want to be something and those who want to do something. There is no doubt about the category to which Jean Monnet belonged”.
Bonus track – the story of his resignation
1 reply on “Jean Monnet in four quotes”
We could use the words for a reel, someone reading in mother-tongue French with more passion and skill, footage illustrating modern aspects of what he said, and texted in English. Monnet is my favourite founding father.