Charles Kennedy
We Liberal Democrats believe in dialogue. We believe in cooperation with both sides of industry and between both sides of industry. And we believe in the language of cooperation. We reject the language of confrontation.
You won't catch Liberal Democrats describing trade unionists as wreckers.
I want to see far more decisions taken far closer to the patients, the passengers and the pupils. Far more power for locally and regionally elected politicians who understand best the needs of their areas. And far more say too for the dedicated staff at all levels in health and education.
I am genuinely not an over-the-top kind of person about politics or anything else.
To run an effective political party you need a degree of tribalism, it's the glue that holds everyone together.
To be seen to be human, provided you're doing your job at the same time, is definitely not a negative, not at all.
I will go out of this world feet first with my Lib Dem membership card in my pocket.
I'm a fully paid-up member of the human race.
Actually, I think it's quite sensible not to take yourself too seriously.
Yes, you need substance in politics - but I think your style also says something about how you arrive at some of your conclusions.
I can hardly think of an occasion when I've got into a stand-up fight with any political opponent. I've got my views, people know what they are, they can agree or they can choose to disagree. I'm not going to waste time just rubbishing everybody else.
I do think there is a great deal of caricature around the House of Commons. It is just that kind of place.
The quicker we get rid of the lobby system the better for all of us. I don't think in this day and age it is tenable to have these nods and winks, and on-the-record and off-the-record briefings.
People are not stupid.
Further Education should be about the ability to learn, not the ability to pay - everyone who is able should have the opportunity, regardless of their family background. I don't want to see students struggling with huge debts or frightened off even going to university in the first place.
My approach is always to try to be straight with people, especially about what my party can achieve.
It is true that I entered parliament at the age of 23, and have now been representing the people of my constituency for over twenty years.
Politics is much too serious to be taken too seriously; equally, there are many aspects of it so laughable as to be lamentable.
I'm not someone who dwells upon past events, taking the view that life is too short.
I think that former leaders are best seen occasionally and not too often heard - particularly on the subject of their successors!
The point never to lose sight of is to be guided by the correct thing, as you see it. It's the only way to approach such profound matters and retain your integrity.
I couldn't imagine a day without music. It relaxes and stimulates me in equal measure and I hate the sound of silence - the concept, I mean, not the track by Simon and Garfunkel.
There is no satisfaction to be derived from having had many of our arguments borne out by events.
We would all rather see Iraq resolved successfully.
I think you've got to like people. There are MPs who are either painfully shy or who don't like public speaking or don't socialise very well, and you just think this must be the worst job in the world for them.
It has been the greatest privilege of my adult and public life to have served, for 32 years, as the Member of Parliament for our local Highlands and Islands communities.
A perennial problem that has faced the Scottish Highlands is that, time and again, too many of the more talented young people have had to move elsewhere - even abroad - through a lack of opportunities that should have been available.
Some ministers are fond of talking about a return to Victorian values. We must realise that those Victorian values are being expressed by some of the younger people in this society in shameful and disturbing disregard for other members of their generation who are not as fortunate as they are in having a job.
During my campaign, people of my age and younger said consistently that they would not vote because their votes simply no longer matter and because no government or member of Parliament cared a whit about their problems and their striving for employment.
To involve young people and make sure that the system is more relevant to them in Scotland, we have a clear obligation to implement a policy of home rule.
The government's instinct is to shroud itself in secrecy - to act like the office of a president instead of as a collective cabinet government held to account by the elected House of Commons.
Taking a principled and consistent stance over Iraq has attracted much criticism from our detractors and opponents.
Whatever the eventual judgment, the political implications of Hutton are already clear. A devastating indictment of Labour in power - and of our political system itself.
I don't actually subscribe to the view that all power corrupts. But absolute power - when secured on the back of massive parliamentary majorities, which don't reflect the balance of political opinion in the country - can corrupt absolutely.
We need less theoretical debate and more practical application and acknowledgment of what Europe can and does do so that it is brought home to people in a relevant way.
Paddy Ashdown is the only party leader who's a trained killer. Although, to be fair, Mrs Thatcher was self taught.Collection: Party
I have never once been persuaded as to the causal link between the Iraqi regime, al-Qaeda and September 11. I do believe the impact of war under these circumstances is bound to weaken the international coalition against terrorism itself.Collection: War
My idealism has not abated, but I have witnessed it withering away nationwide, to the point where at least among the young, to have ideals is akin to being blinkered and oldfashioned.Collection: Young
Befriending provides a valuable lifeline to many people who feel isolated in their communities often as a result of ill health or poverty. I would like to thank all those who volunteer as befrienders and I hope that your numbers will increase in coming years. Your kindness and hard work is, I know, very much appreciated by those you help.Collection: Kindness
The events of the Holocaust viewed through the eyes of Anne Frank are a unique and damming testament to the dreadful atrocities of that period of our historyCollection: Eye
I'm not someone who dwells upon past events, taking the view that life is too shortCollection: Short Life
My favourite novel is Frederick Forsythe's Day Of The Jackal, the story about the unproven case of this apparent Englishman who was hired to assassinate De GaulleĀ .Collection: Stories
You mustn't confuse the need for effective chairmanship, which is part of the job of the boss, along with the ability to take tough decisions and to lead people.Collection: Jobs