"O Our Lady of Lebanon, / Cedar of Immense Shadow, / Make of thy green palms / a roof of thy children.

When the tempest threatens / and Satan growls, / Embraced under thy shadow, / We feel safe."  

   Charles Corm (The Inspired Mountain)

“Lebanon is conceived as a Euro-Mediterranean concentrate in view of its geographic position, religious and cultural diversity, and democratic nature.  The war waged by Israel in summer 2006 imposes on the European Union to make a display of its force as a regional power. At the outset, Lebanon is the first tangible proof that Europe should overcome for satisfying its vision of a Mediterranean space where peace prevails, promoter of development and democracy in compliance with its commitments adopted in 1995 on occasion of the Barcelona conference. Lebanon not only has a destiny, shadowy until present, but also a mandatory destination: becoming a beacon of democracy in the Middle East of the Twenty-First Century, thus questioning its history, including its most recent.” Béatrice Patrie “Who wants to destroy Lebanon ?” (2007)       

“Holy Father, it is with deep sorrow and pain that my voice reaches out to you. It is a small people dying, that we may eradicate from the face of the Earth because of its fidelity to the church and its affection to its eldest daughter, France . It lives in a neighboring place to where Christ was born. It is honest, loyal, and perseverant in his friendships until death. For centuries, in the midst of the mounting tide of Islam, in the epoch where nothing resisted its powerful hordes, it resisted and made of its small country an island which it maintained Christian. This country happens to be Lebanon , one of your spiritual principalities. It has been punished so cruelly that Your Holiness, if correctly instructed, would not have remained passive and would not have been contented with vague and deceitful assurances.” Open letter to His Holiness Benedictus XV. Chekri Ganem (1916)

“Here are thou, poor Lebanon , not chanted anymore by the bride of chants. Here are thou, poor Lebanon , my country, that your friends, in dissimulation of their mourning for you, are gathered at your bedstead and praying. Here comes upon you the hour of darkness, in the shattering provoked in all that thou have been. Indeed, the hour of darkness has already tickled for thou, poor Lebanon , for thou whose name means Mountain of Milk , Whitening Splendor. Here are thou, Lebanon , whose milk has been transformed and his whitening turned pale. And the birds of God themselves, that loved the equal limpidity of thy sky for whom, perhaps, was created the word “azure”, the birds departed.” Salah Stétié (1994) 

“Old Lebanon always young and smiling, I am made of thy clay and molded from of thy rock, from the azure of thy sky where I ascend to pray, and from thy good lads without fear nor remorse,

I am made of thy evergreen cedar, of thy humble church with the sweet toll of its bell, of thy faith that persists in the heart of the orient, whose pure incense hangs on the slope of its mountains.

Lebanon with the brilliant front of snow and ideals, bathing its feet in a crystal flow, O Lebanon twice saint of my father and mother,

Lebanon always in flowers and overwhelmed with love, I shall be always yours, o Lebanon of light, more than appreciating to owe thee the day!...”

Charles Corm (1952)  

“An acting minority, not to confounded with the believers of the venerable Jewish religion, managed during the century of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to establish in the spirits of the West a total confusion respect to an Earth already normally populated and which peacefully established its Palestinian destiny. Undoubtedly, in the strictness common to two thirds of humanity, but with a determination full of hope. Audiovisual and written media are still not the share of this usurpated Arab people and, since June 1967, its voice has been more than ever that of suffering and oppression…The West protector of an expansionist and sectarian Israel may wake up one day astounded by the tragic consequences of his cruel partiality.” Camille Aboussouan (1968)    

“As is it, Lebanon happens to be, overall, one of the most remarkable mountainous regions in the globe. It has an air of grandeur and majesty striking the traveler at first glance. Indeed, nothing is comparable to the magical effects produced from a distance by this long and beautiful chain, when illuminated by the rays of the sun at dusk. As such, the snow whitening its various summits change their silver brilliance into gold, the purest and most astounding of all…Finally, these summits having become dark and shadowy promptly witness the lighting up above them of a group of stars covering the firmament and apparently supporting the immense dome; we can speak of a considerable number of celestial beacons aimed at illuminating them. On many occasions I have witnessed this dazzling show before my eyes, and I have always admired it. A sublime incomparable beauty prevails in the masterpieces of the Creator, always powerfully captivating the soul and imagination of those who observe nature with a keen religious eye.” Victor Guérin (1881)      

“You have your Lebanon and its dilemmas. I have Lebanon and its beauty. You have your Lebanon with the conflicts eating him up. I have my Lebanon with the dreams born in it. You have your Lebanon , take it as it is. I have my Lebanon and I only accept the absolute. Your Lebanon is a political imbroglio that time intents to untie. My Lebanon is made of elevated mountains, proud and magnificent in the azure. Your Lebanon is an international problem trailing in the shadows of the night. My Lebanon is made up of peaceful and mysterious valleys whose slopes greet the tolls of bells and the whispers of rivers… Allow me to tell you at present who are the children of my Lebanon … They are the winners wherever they may go; they are loved and respected wherever they establish themselves. They are those who are born in pauper places but die in the palaces of wisdom…” Khalil Gibran (1920)      

“This country, in its remaining part, is admirable. Lebanon has a lasting aroma reminiscent of the epoch of Jesus. Here, I am already on biblical land. I see from my terrace (in Tyre ) Sarepta, Hermon, Carmel , and the mountains of the tribe of Dan… Lebanon , the most amazing thing in the world, and by rare privilege, gathers a high degree of grandeur and charm; they are gay, flourishing and scented Alps . Each of its summits is crowned by temples… all that I can tell you, is that air in Lebanon is the sweetest, most pure and most vivid in the world, that this country inspires health, rest, peace of mind, as well as a welfare and tempered activity, that population is overall good and tender, that security is greater than in any country of Europe and that I shall cross the country alone on foot without a shadow of apprehension.” Ernest Renan (1860)     

“All the images of biblical poetry are engraved in capital letters on the delineated face of Lebanon , its golden summits and its water flowing valleys. This land should have been the first, the land of terrible poetry and human lamentation; the pathetic and grandiose accent of prophets is sensed in its wild, pathetic and grandiose nature.” Alphonse de Lamartine (1833)    

“The ties between France and Lebanon are evident by their solidity and sincerity. If France is invested with a mission in Orient , Lebanon , on its behalf, is invested with a mission in Europe . This is why it is perceptive for our two countries to remain in agreement, with a spirit of solidarity, not only on issues of practical order, but also on political issues. This cooperation may assist in restoring peace in the region where Lebanon is located, as well as contribute to peace in the world.” General Charles de Gaulle (1968)