people-from-tunisia

"We want to correct the paths of the revolution and history."

"[Tunisian] President Ben Ali welcomed me in a way that moved me. I did very much appreciate his kindness and that of all Tunisians."

"These incidents will never break down our determination nor undermine our achievements. Rather, they should encourage all parties to draw the necessary lessons and never detract from the imperative to continue our work with determination and enthusiasm because the dignity and invulnerability of Tunisia are a burden which are invested all Tunisian men and women. Thank you for your attention."

"I take this opportunity to reiterate my thanks and my appreciation to my dear Brother Leader Muammar Gaddafi, Leader of the Libyan revolution, for his honourable initiative that our people have received with great satisfaction and of facilitating the movement and activities of Tunisian Libya sister and treat them just like the Libyans. This confirms a sincere brotherhood and the strong support we have always received from him and to the brotherly Libyan people."

"I won't accept that another drop of blood of a Tunisian be spilled."

"I think that Tunisia's achievements over the past two decades are now well known, and are testified to by numerous regional and international organizations and all honest observers. But what interests me in the first place is the feeling of all Tunisians that these achievements have positively changed their life."

"The values and high virtues that Arafat embodied during his struggle for the Palestinian cause will inspire the Palestinian people so that they preserve their cohesion and unity and pursue their path to win back their national, legitimate and eternal rights."

"I will say to you once more loud and clear: Do write on any subject you choose. There are no taboos except what is prohibited by law and press ethics."

"You have suffered a great loss. There is none better than Zine to govern Tunisia. Tunisia, a developed country that is a tourist destination, is becoming prey to hooded gangs, to thefts and fire. [The conditions in Tunisia reflect] chaos with no end in sight. I am concerned for the people of Tunisia, whose sons are dying each day. And for what? In order for someone to become president instead of Ben Ali? I do not know these new people, but we all knew Ben Ali and the transformation that was achieved in Tunisia. Why are you destroying all of that? [Do not be fooled by] WikiLeaks which publishes information written by lying ambassadors in order to create chaos."

"We respect the European judiciary system but we condemn the decision of the European courts which is in favor of corrupt figures from the former regime. Ben Ali and his clan are wanted in Tunisia for charges of corruption and money laundering."

"Think not that you are thus maintaining the Gospel of Christ when you separate yourselves from the flock of Christ."

"Hence turn your looks to the abominations, not less to be deplored, of another kind of spectacle. In the theatres also you will behold what may well cause you grief and shame. It is the tragic buskin which relates in verse the crimes of ancient days. The old horrors of parricide and incest are unfolded in action calculated to express the image of the truth, so that, as the ages pass by, any crime that was formerly committed may not be forgotten. Each generation is reminded by what it hears, that whatever has once been done may be done again. Crimes never die out by the lapse of ages; wickedness is never abolished by process of time; impiety is never buried in oblivion. Things which have now ceased to be actual deeds of vice become examples."

"Habere non potest Deum patrem qui ecclesiam non habet matrem."

"Salus extra ecclesiam non est."

"For the helmsman is recognized in the tempest; in the warfare the soldier is proved."

"It is a persistent evil to persecute a man who belongs to the grace of God. It is a calamity without remedy to hate the happy."

"Since we have Christ as our Advocate with the Father for our sins, when we pray on account of our faults, we use the very words of our Advocate."

"Men imitate the gods whom they adore, and to such miserable beings their crimes become their religion."

"Humi iacent fessa laboribus viscera, sed poena non est cum Christo iacere. Squalent sine balneis membra situ et sorde deformia, sed spiritaliter intus abluitur quod foris carnaliter sordidatur."

""a dangerous maniac who actually thinks he might become a figure in world affairs." - French Resident General"

"Bourguiba is terribly awkward, but he said what most of us believe. The Egyptians take millions from the Communists and have the nerve to call us lackeys for accepting a penny from America."

"Nasser's Cairo radio on Bourguiba: "the same destiny as Nuri as-Said," (the Iraqi premier who was assasinated)"

""I did not want to be Premier in the first place. I only accepted because Bourguiba pleaded with me to accept." - Interim Premier of Tunisia Tahar ben Amar"

"Give us arms! Give us arms!"

"El Massa from Beirut: "Turn to Cairo, O Habib. Turn to the Arab Republic, to the camp of neutralism and to dignity and sovereignty.""

"Bourguiba's Neo-Destour Party paper, the L'Action: "To be respected in 1958 one can no longer be a friend of the West. The day that Bourguiba decides to follow the path set by Nehru, Tito and Nasser, Tunisia will no longer be lied about and attacked. She will be wooed.""

"I will impose women's freedom and rights by the force of the law, and I will not wait for the democracy of a people duped by male culture in the name of religion."

"They struggle to cut hands and heads and we struggle to keep heads high and hands raised."

"The relationship between a woman and a man is built on the basis of mutual respect .. The woman is not required to bury herself in life because the man is unable to control his instincts like animals .. The woman raises the man's face, hair, height, width, smell, and even the voice of her is roughened, but the woman has learned to control her instincts. The man is also required to rise to the level of the woman."

"I do not think that the time is right to talk about democracy in its absolute concept. Arab societies marginalized their modern thinkers and scholars for the elders who stopped their time before fourteen centuries, which is the difference between us and them .. Therefore, it was necessary to work on spreading a more realistic culture in which modern science has a more open place. Take, for example, if we asked the Tunisian people (he meant former President Bourguiba then and not now) to hold a referendum on his position on women's education, then I can assure that 99.99% will refuse her education."

"When a house is on fire, the neighbors' duty is to put it out. ... I hate colonialism, not the French."

"The only Jews who interest us are our fellow citizens. ... Basically and profoundly, we are with the West."

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

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

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

"Bourguiba on Gamal Abdel Nasser: "not aware of the danger of Communism. Once the Iron Curtain drops, there is no escape.""

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

"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 Algeria—until the nation becomes homogeneous."

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

"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."

"Bourguiba on people who patronized the Zéro de Conduite (Zero for Conduct), nightclub: "Practice a shameful exhibitionism in morbid and degrading dances.""

"Bourguiba on Ramadan's effect on Tunisia: "Stagnation, weakness and decadence ... beautiful custom ... pretext that paralyzes our activity.""

"Bourguiba quoting Muhammad: "Break the fast, and you will be stronger to confront the enemy. ... humiliating backward condition of our country.""

"Bourguiba warning the French: "it will mean war. ... Today I am the President of the Republic, but I will be the first to join the Maquis. ... Tunisia is always ready to turn the page. ... I have promised the Tunisian people that the French army will go, If I fail, I will be swept away.""

"I have come not to make war on the Italians, but to aid the Italians against Rome."

"Had Hannibal had a government behind him that knew how to exploit victories – had he been born a Roman, for instance – he might have conquered the world."

"Among the Carthaginians he [Hannibal] was notorious for his love of money and among the Romans for his cruelty."

"With the examples of the Greek defeats of the Persians or the Battle of Cannae in the Punic Wars in mind, much but not all of Western strategy over the centuries has revolved around the search for the decisive military victory which will oblige the enemy to surrender. Cannae when Hannibal defeated the Romans is a favourite example – but it is easy to misread its significance. Yes, Hannibal won the battle in a dazzling encircling manoeuvre, but Carthage lost the war because in the end Rome outlasted it. And the price Carthage paid was heavy indeed: the Romans levelled its cities and sowed its fields with salt."

"Of a truth the gods do not give the same man everything: you know how to gain a victory, Hannibal, but you do not know how to make use of it."

"As to the transcendent military genius of Hannibal there cannot be two opinions. The man who for fifteen years could hold his ground in a hostile country against several powerful armies and a succession of able generals must have been a commander and a tactician of supreme capacity. In the use of strategies and ambuscades he certainly surpassed all other generals of antiquity. Wonderful as his achievements were, we must marvel the more when we take into account the grudging support he received from Carthage. As his veterans melted away, he had to organize fresh levies on the spot. We never hear of a mutiny in his army, composed though it was of North Africans, Iberians and Gauls. Again, all we know of him comes for the most part from hostile sources. The Romans feared and hated him so much that they could not do him justice. Livy speaks of his great qualities, but he adds that his vices were equally great, among which he singles out his more than Punic perfidy and an inhuman cruelty. For the first there would seem to be no further justification than that he was consummately skillful in the use of ambuscades. For the latter there is, we believe, no more ground than that at certain crises he acted in the general spirit of ancient warfare. Sometimes he contrasts most favorably with his enemy. No such brutality stains his name as that perpetrated by Claudius Nero on the vanquished Hasdrubal. Polybius merely says that he was accused of cruelty by the Romans and of avarice by the Carthaginians. He had indeed bitter enemies, and his life was one continuous struggle against destiny. For steadfastness of purpose, for organizing capacity and a mastery of military science he has perhaps never had an equal."