For his part, Schuman summarized his own thinking in his unpublished memoirs: "The harsh lessons of history have taught me, as a man from a border area, that I should be wary of hasty improvisation and over-ambitious projects, but they have also taught me that when an objective judgment, founded in mature reflection and based on actual facts and the overriding interests of mankind, leads us into new or even revolutionary endeavors, we should remain steadfast and persevere with them."
The birth of a great idea The paths of the cautious foreign minister from Alsace-Lorraine, Robert Schuman, and the bold man of action, Jean Monnet, crossed in the post-war years. In February 1950 Monnet went on a two-week cross-country skiing trip in the Alps.