Quotes by Bernard Pivot

• They place great stress on the clarity of our language for expressing nuances and showing subtleties.
• There is a pride in speaking this language.
• All the English speakers, or almost all, have difficulties with the gender of words.
• French is a language that makes those who speak it both calm and dynamic.
• I agreed on condition that we found a completely new concept that had nothing to do with the latest books.
• It is very difficult to generalise. Everyone's adventure is original.
• People who do not speak our language very well do complain of feeling rebuffed by French people, who can sometimes be impatient, or even intolerant.
• You get the feeling that many of my guests feel that the French language gives them entry into a more cultivated, more intelligent world, more highly civilised too, with rules.
• The more English is heard in the world, the more gratifying it seems to speak French, and above all to know the culture of our country. They find a kind of French social grace in the language and culture.
• This programme would only really make sense and work properly if it was also broadcast on France's international television channel TV5. So I ended up with a double production, on France 2 and TV5.