Mikhail Gorbachev
Every part of our program of perestroika - and the program as a whole, for that matter - is fully based on the principle of more socialism and more democracy.Collection: Historical
Many people who live in big countries like ours thought that we had resources that would work for us for many, many years, but that was a mistake. Our natural wealth corrupted us. In this country, you were among the first to raise environmental issues. In Russia, despite all of its problems today, people are concerned about the environment, and it's become a central issue on the agenda.Collection: Country
Ideally, peace means the absence of violence. It is an ethical value.Collection: Peace
In Russia, there are those who make their money in criminal ways, but I earn everything myself.Collection: Russia
The time has come to develop integrated global policies.Collection: Communication
Putin wants to stay in power, but not so that he can finally solve our most pressing problems: education, health care, poverty.Collection: Care
I began to feel the desire for something more; I wanted to do something to make things better.Collection: Desire
Every US President has to have a war.Collection: War
Humankind has no option but to protect and live in harmony with its natural environment. However, it would be regrettable if in putting an end to revolutionary extremism, we should then come to environmental extremism. We should not forget that all extremes are the same.Collection: Environmental
Man is beginning to explore the galaxy. But how much remains undone on earth?Collection: Men
We need a new environmental consciousness on a global basis. To do this, we need to educate people.Collection: Future
Not only America but all countries should think together about how the enormous might of the sole remaining superpower should be used. We need a leadership that is based on partnership, a leadership that unites nations and makes it possible to solve the problems of the globe together. Otherwise, we will have another Gold Rush for a superpower that wants to gain even greater advantages, that wants to gain an absolutely new position for itself. That would lead to a perverse utopia.Collection: Country
I remember Secretary of State [George] Shultz one day saying that America is an economic model for the world. I replied to him that America represents 5 percent of the world's population and consumes 30 percent of the world's energy. What if everyone in the world lives like Americans? Where do we get the energy for this standard of living?Collection: Economic Models
Montreal, this wonderful town… Pearl of Canada, Pearl of the world.Collection: World
The phenomenon of UFOs does exist, and it must be treated seriously.Collection: Doe
It will not be enough to rely on experts. Ordinary citizens must become experts too. It will take public opinion on a wide scale to ensure that world leaders act.Collection: Communication
Our rockets can find Halley's comet, and fly to Venus with amazing accuracy, but side by side with these scientific and technical triumphs is an obvious lack of efficiency in using scientific achievements for economic needs. Many Soviet household appliances are of poor quality.Collection: War
Though representatives of many ethnic groups came together in the United States, English became their common language. Apparently, this was a natural choice. One can imagine what would have happened if members of each nation moving to the U.S. had spoken only their own tongues and refused to learn English.Collection: Moving
For a new type of progress throughout the world to become a reality, everyone must change. Tolerance is the alpha and omega of a new world order.Collection: Reality
Globalization was supposed to break down barriers between continents and bring all peoples together. But what kind of globalization do we have with over one billion people on the planet not having safe water to drink?Collection: People
Lake Baikal in Russia has 25 percent of the freshwater resources of the world. Sixty-five percent of the Russian ecosystems are in danger. So let's preserve what we have, and let's take good care of nature.Collection: Ecosystems
Sometimes, the decisions have to be taken in minutes, even seconds, and there would be no time to make the right decision. We understood that this could have ended in catastrophe.Collection: Taken
You are fortunate to live here. If I were your President, I would levy a tax on you for living in San Francisco!Collection: San Francisco
Contemporary social democracy is what I believe is the right concept.Collection: Believe
In effect, according to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible. By gaining democratic freedoms the working masses come to power.Collection: Democracy
God has given us enough wisdom to make improvements in our relations.Collection: Improvement
The human race has entered a stage where we are all dependent on each other. No other country or nation should be regarded in total separation from another, let alone pitted against another.Collection: Country
We used to have just one criterion and that was profit, and then another criterion was added - social welfare. Now we have to add the third important criterion, and that is nature and the environment.Collection: Important
Women prevent the threads of life from being broken. The finest minds have always understood the peacemaking role of women.Collection: Life
It sometimes seems to me that some of our Western partners do not want Russia to fully recover. They would like Russia to be in a subdued state, and they want Russian resources to be used for the benefit of the U.S. economy.Collection: Russia
I'm still committed to the socialist idea because the socialist idea, correctly understood, includes the principles of freedom and social justice. It also includes the recognition of the value of democracy. When we speak about social justice, it means that freedom should be used not only in the interest of profit but also in the interest of the advancement of the people who create all values.Collection: Mean
One of the reasons why this country undertook military action in Iraq was that there are quite a few problems here, and perhaps attention needed to be deflected from those problems. It sometimes seems that the U.S. economy works successfully only if it gets a stimulus from the defense industry. So perhaps in addition to showing the power and the might of the United States internationally, another reason was to help the defense industry and to help the U.S. economy recover.Collection: Country
Further global progress is now possible only through a quest for universal consensus in the movement towards a new world order.Collection: Nwo
I think the United States is sick. It suffers from the sickness, the disease of being the victor and it needs to cure itself from this disease.Collection: Thinking
In principle as a philosophy, a model of organising society, Communism has to be respected. As regards the use of certain methods to advance social justice and greater regulation by the state, there are certain methods that are useful. What we need is a new society, a new civilization and convergence of all that is best in both [Communism and Capitalism]Collection: Philosophy
I support freedom and I support a free market economy, but it should be a socially oriented market economy. I support globalization, but it should be globalization with a human face.Collection: Support
With Yeltsin, the Soviet Union broke apart, the country was totally mismanaged, the constitution was not respected by the regions of Russia. The army, education and health systems collapsed. People in the West quietly applauded, dancing with and around Yeltsin. I conclude therefore that we should not pay too much attention to what the West is saying.Collection: Country
Even today, a majority of people surveyed say that they regret the fact that the USSR collapsed. But only 9 percent say that they would want it back.Collection: Regret
To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals.Collection: Tree
America has a right to be a leader. This leadership should be realized through partnership, not domination.Collection: America
When I cleared out Moscow apartment after stepping down as president, they found all kinds of wiring in the walls. It turned out that they had been spying on me all along.Collection: Wall
Life punishes those who come too late.Collection: Too Late
...the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant...has painfully affected the Soviet people, and shocked the international community. For the first time, we confront the real force of nuclear energy, out of control.Collection: Real
Nature is reminding us that it used to exist without human beings.Collection: Used
The most important thing is who counts the votes.Collection: Important
We could still have continued the arms race, but the arms race was pointless, and it was another reason we decided to start perestroika. It was senseless to continue to accumulate weapons. We had enough weapons to destroy life on Earth 1,000 times, and therefore it was very clear to us that the arms race could spiral out of control. A conflict could have started, as both the Americans and the Soviets realized, not out of a wrong political decision but because of a failure in the command-and-control systems.Collection: Race
The model of the consumer society is something that will one day end. My personal view is that too much consumption is wrong.Collection: Views