Democracy activists

"I'm never going to stop making music. I couldn't."

"[I've] written all original music [for the forthcoming Spanish-language CD], as was [1993's] "Mi tierra" -- years back. It's very organic. It's really down to the roots. I'm in love with that record. It's very rhythmic. It's a very passionate record, and I'm thrilled. It should come out next [2007] summer. And a single probably early on in the summer. The album probably will be [out] around September [2007]."

"Oh, that's a good question because what I would consider essential may be different than what my record company and the fans might have in mind. But when you do a retrospective of 20 years like this (album) and realize that you had so many hit singles, it's really an honor. There's a couple of songs that I wrote, one is called "Along Came You" for my daughter Emily; and the other, "Nayib's Song (I Am Here for Your) for my son. Both are in the 'slow disc.' I put them in even if they were not singles or hits because for me my being a mother is an essential part of who I am.""

"Well, if you compare my album even as late as two years ago, I think as a writer I am much more at the forefront. I wrote all the lyrics and lots of the music on that album. It shows humor of the writer side of me. But I have evolved since then."

"Who is Gloria Estefan today? I'm very fulfilled as a woman. I've been able to have a wonderful family life, a fantastic career. I have a lot of good friends around me. My family has been my grounding point, and rooted me deeply to the earth. . . I'm very happy. I've done everything I ever wanted to do. The key to me was -- I told my husband when we were in our 20s -- I'm going to work really hard, so one day I won't have to work so hard. And to me what that was, was having choices. And I do have choices now -- and I have take full advantage of that. It's important for me now to be here for my little girl [Emily, age 12]. My son is full grown -- and I know have quickly that goes. So, I'm balancing being a mother -- which to me is the most important role I have on this earth -- and still being creative, writing -- which is what I love to do. So, I've been able to branch out into not just writing songs like you have heard through the years -- but writing children's books, writing a screenplay. But at my core that's what I am: a writer. And that's what I enjoy doing behind the scenes: writing the songs for albums, recording it. And that's why you have seen me take more of a back seat to being the center of attention, and being out on tour and doing that kind of thing. I've stepped up a lot of my charity work. This year, the five concerts I did were all for charity: different ones and my own foundation. So, that's becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life -- as I wanted it to be. And [I keep] just growing and evolving."

"Ever since I was a little girl, I felt that I wanted to be of service here on the earth: I felt that was my job somehow. And whatever I was going to do, I was going to find a way to do that. And so, as I got a larger audience -- a broader audience worldwide, and more and more people were listening to me -- it became important for me to share that thought. And the song "Get on Your Feet" -- which I didn't write, it was written actually by my guitar player, bass player and keyboardist . . . They knew how I felt. [They knew] what my thoughts were . . . So although it was written before my accident, it was thrown back at me so many times . . . But that really is my motto. I look always forward. I look ahead. And that's why I chose to record that song, because I really loved the message. Then "Coming Out of the Dark," which came on the heals of that accident and my rehab, and the incredible love that I felt from everyone worldwide that helped me through that difficult moment when I broke my back in 1990, is a big thank you to my fans -- and an expression of how ultimately we are here for each other to help one another. And the strength of prayer . . . That's why I say I know the love that saved me, you're sharing with me. We do have the power to save one another . . . And I wanted to thank everyone for being there for me."

"The most beautiful thing about music is that it transcends most anything."

"I was a straight-A student, baby!"

"There is still a Castro in [Cuba]. And I think the status quo will not change until [Fidel] moves to the great beyond. [However,] Raul Castro [recently installed as president of Cuba] is a more open-minded guy [than Fidel]. [Raul] lives a more capitalistic lifestyle. And he has been somewhat more open with the press and allowing the students to speak up. But the reality is that he won't do much until Fidel is gone."

"The music is one of the beautiful things that has survived the Castro regime. I have played for audiences all over the world but I've never played for a Cuban audience. For [husband] Emilio and me, the music is the one tie to our homeland."

"My family was musical on both sides. My father's family had a famous flautist and a classical pianist. My mother won a contest to be Shirley Temple's double -- she was the diva of the family. At 8, I learned how to play guitar. I used to play songs from the '20s, '30s and '40s in the kitchen for my grandmother. After my dad was a prisoner in Cuba for two years, we moved to Texas, where I was the only Hispanic in the class. I remember hearing "Ferry Cross the Mersey," by Gerry and the Pacemakers, and thinking, "that had bongos and maracas -- that was really a bolero." And the Beatles song, "Till There was You" . . . also Latin. I wrote poetry, which got me into lyrics. Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Elton John pulled me into pop. I started singing with a band -- just for fun -- when I 17. And pretty soon, I was thinking I could sing pop in English as well as Spanish. And as you know, we did that and we broke through. But we waited until 1993 to release "Mi Tierra" -- we wanted my fans to be ready for the traditional Cuban music. And then we kept adding: more Cuban influences, more Latin America. And, underneath it all, African drums and rhythm. The concept of "90 Millas" starts with the songs of the '40s. We invited 25 masters of Latin music -- giants on the cutting edge of creativity, musicians who pushed it out to the world, young Cuban artists and Puerto Ricans who are huge -- so we could blend cultures and generations. So it is like coming home, but not exactly to the old Cuba."

"I'm singing the hardest song [the national anthem] you could possibly sing at this hour of the morning [8 a.m.]. [I came from Cuba] when I was sixteen months old, although I didn't become a citizen until I was actually about 9 or 10 years old [1966-67]. I had to leave the country to become a citizen, because we had to go to Canada -- and I'll never forget that trip as long as I live. But it was very important for me then, and for them [new citizens] today, What more special day can you have: July 4th in the American Mecca. It doesn't get better than that for them. Well, I'll tell you this -- and I can base it on my own feelings. The beauty of this country is that you can become a citizen of this wonderful nation, and still keep who you are: your culture, your lifestyle. It's a melting pot that allows you not to melt if you don't want to. And it's a wonderful place. I love this country. I really admire it: its ideals, the freedom, the things it stands for. As an immigrant that came from a country that doesn't have those freedoms and still doesn't have them -- which is Cuba -- it's much more special to me: To be able to live here and to be able to have the life that I do in this country."

"All of us know the true meaning of freedom. Some of us appreciate it more than those who have been here for many generations."

"The most beautiful things in this country have the flavor of other places. Chinese food. Pizza came from the Italians, but it's an American experience. French fries. There's always some other cultures involved. You don't have to be a hyphenated American, but you can certainly be an American who doesn't forget where they came from."

"I'm very excited about this wonderful opportunity to take part in the evolution of a company that is integral to the Hispanic community and a powerful force in all areas of the media."

"It is so important for me to keep authentic Cuban sounds alive. All of these great artists have changed the landscape of Latin music and it's an honor to have them on this album ["90 Millas," released in September of 2007]. I believe this album will expose a new generation to the richness of Cuban music."

"Emilio and I like projects to breathe and grow. We started with a concept -- write songs, make demos, then let the guest stars listen to them and then affect the writing process. For Jose Feliciano, I had written a chorus and a bit of a melody. He started playing the chorus and ad-libbing. I went, "This is the [stuff]! Forget my melody!" Carlos Santana worked just the other way. He wanted me to record a polished take singing first, so his playing could recreate my emotion. I got goose bumps [writing "90 Millas"]. Like in "Esperando," which is addressed to Cubans on the island. Those of us in America, we're like the bogeyman, but I wanted Cubans at home to know: Whatever happened doesn't matter. The future is for us to heal. And also: because we're here, we latched onto any part of our culture. Yes and no [this is a political record]. Politics is life, so yes. but it's not specific. Saying that 90 miles haven't divided us sends a message about freedom for Cuba -- and for everyone."

"It took us two years to write, produce and arrange the new album [90 Millas]. Aside from that, I wrote the two children's books based on Noelle, my bulldog, and I was fortunate enough that they ended up on the New York Times bestseller list. By now, we've got seven restaurants and two hotels, which we're very hands-on with, and we're building a third one in Vero Beach, Florida, And I took a vacation for once, because ever since Emilio and I got married in'78, every trip we've take has been for work. So last year, we went to Egypt, Panama, the Bahamas and Greece. It was fantastic!"

"If you say "90 miles" to any Cuban, they'll know exactly what it means. It's the stretch of water between Key West, which is the southernmost tip of the continental United States, and Cuba. And for any Cuban who cannot go back, it represents not just a physical distance, but a spiritual one. That's why in most of the songs there is the word "distancia." The idea was to take the nostalgia and the sounds that we started with on "Mi tierra,' which was meant to sound like it was made in a past era, and do the opposite. We moved forward to 2007, with the technological equipment we have today, and gave it a very vibrant sound."

"My father rarely spoke of life before [he left Cuba]. About prison, he just said, "That man is a genius at PR." Castro would come to the jail in the middle of the night and ask the prisoners, "What are you doing here? Don't you see we're trying to do the right thing?" The reason I'm not more political is because I have music. And from a young age, I needed it. After prison, my father came to America, joined the Army, fought in Vietnam -- and was exposed to Agent Orange. He died a slow, horrible death. Music was my escape."

"We wanted to show the influence Cuban music has had on musicians from all over, so we invited 25 of the top Latin musicians in the world, and it was a great honor they paid me. Some of them are actually inventors, like Cachao, the Cuban bassist credited with creating mambo."

"Always. Difficulties happen and you get through them. When I say "no llores," it doesn't just mean literally crying; it means looking at the bad things in your life rather than the positive. I always think of Celia Cruz as an inspiration. So many times I saw her backstage and her knee was killing her and I had to help her up the steps, but she would step on that stage and nobody knew that she was hurting."

"I'm in great shape considering I have hardware in my back. I work out constantly to keep my muscles limber and my abs strong so they can take the burnt of everything."

"In every interview I've done since the beginning, [I'm asked] 'How do you feel about opening doors?' And I always say, 'There are two men who opened the doors for all of us, and they were Feliciano and Santana."

"[Luciano Pavarotti's] brilliance in music will live in our hearts forever. His spirit as a humanitarian surpasses even that. It is truly the end of a musical era. I am honored to have had the opportunity to know him and perform with him"

"What we didn't want to do [with "90 Millas] was "Mi Tierra, Part 2," because that album was so special. Yes, we wanted to do a Cuban album, but didn't know exactly in what vein. And, as it grew, it grew into a more modern thing. It was if we had continued to bring this music along with the years."

"What I wanted to be on this album ["90 Millas"] is me, with everything I have experienced so far."

"This blend of musicians on '90 Millas' is historically significant on a number of levels. This is the first and quite possibly the last time that all of these legendary artists will play together on one CD."

"The 2004 tour hasn't ended. I still have to finish Latin America and Europe. [Celia Cruz and I] were good friends. Emilio did her first video; we wrote a song for her. I would have loved to have had her there [when recording "90 Millas"]. But she was there. I felt her. That's the beauty of a legacy. Celia was economical and tasty in her choices. And in the pocket like you wouldn't believe? [Which means] It's like a rhythm, from son music. To have it it is to be locked in, like a tuned engine. Once you're in the pocket, you're free. That's why, for most of these songs, I sang and I sang until I had the emotion, then . . . one take. {Couldn't you be considered the heiress to Celia Cruz?] you can't give yourself a title! That's crazy! If I ever start talking like that, please put me out of my misery. I don't care if I'm 80, with my butt to my ankles, put me down."

"The phenomenal Celia Cruz [is missing]. But although she couldn't be here physically [Cruz died in 2003], I felt her presence throughout the entire recording of the album. It's still impossible for me to feel like Celia's gone, simply because she is still so alive to me through her music and the friendship we shared for so many years. There were moments during this recording that felt to me like she was directing me to a degree or giving me ideas for where to go with the song."

"For the rest of my life, the one song that people will remember -- regardless -- is "Conga" . . . I never get tired of singing it. It never gets old for me."

"'Live for Loving You' is a kind of song that really can live in many different genres. And, of course, when you do your live performances the first time that you perform a song you want to stay true to the record: because that's what people want to hear, they want to hear the hit. But then after you have done it fifty thousand times and through many, many different tours, you start experimenting and doing stuff to surprise people. So, the cut that we are doing here for the "iTunes Original" is something that we love to do -- because we just took it and really broke it down to a Samba. You know, the Brazilians have an amazing edge -- percussively, I think -- they have amazing rhythms. And this song really fit that rhythm very nicely. So, we wanted to do it acoustically and really cool -- and like we've done many times on tour. Just break it down to just acoustic, no synths and things of that nature: just make it organic. And I love that song for that reason: because you could perform it with just a couple of bongos and some vocals if you had to. And it would still work."

"When you sing in English and Spanish, it's two completely different forms of expression and . . . even the people who don't speak Spanish love to hear me sing in Spanish."

""Get on Your Feet" is really my motto. I look always forward. I look ahead. That's why I choose to record that song, because I really love the message."

"We do have the power to save one another . . ."

"The last thing I wanted to do was put politics into my music . . . because music was my escape."

"I cannot imagine a world without music. It would be . . . well, I cannot imagine it."

"[She was the first pop singer to perform for a Pope.] And a woman at that. Apparently Pope John Paul II and his boys -- is that what you call them? -- loved one of my songs and thought I was putting spiritual messages in my music. I'm not religious as such. Dogma and I don't get along. They knew all that, but the Pope was celebrating 50 years as a priest, and he asked for me. Quite an audience -- bishops, cardinals, a handful of nuns -- and me, covered from neck to ankles."

"[I would like to be] one of [the first pop singers to perform in a free Cuba]. I know the list is huge. And it would be hard to pull off -- I'd have a lump as big as a tostone [fried green plantain] in my throat. But oh my God, what a dream -- it would be the height of my personal and professional career."

"I'm happy and I have a great life."

"My Conga people [fans] will find me anywhere I go."

"I never stop learning."

"Music is a healing force and we have the privilege of sharing it. It's an awesome responsibility. It has to be something that says something from you. It's a beautiful way to live your life. Whether you end up doing it for a business or just end up singing for your kids, teaching other people to do music, or doing therapy, go forward with a lot of belief, because it's such an amazing way to live your life."

"Esperando (Cuando Cuba Sea Libre) is probably one of the most personal songs from the new [September, 2007] CD, "90 Millas" . . . as it really speaks about the celebration, nostalgia and emotion that will happen the day Cuba is free. If we're to move forward in Cuba, we really have to have a lot of forgiveness for each other and look towards the future."

"I doubt that Fidel will ever come back to power. I think he is slowly going to the great beyond. Too slowly . . . he could have gone a long time ago."

"I tell him [husband Emilio] you are lucky I am not a jealous woman, because look at the women he's worked with: Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Thalia, Madonna. These very sexy women. I trust him."

"For the past 32 years of our career our position against the Castro regime has been crystal clear. We have maintained this position with Presidents, Royalty in several countries, Pope Joh Paul and anyone who has broached the subject of Cuba with us. Even when it would have been easier to stay silent, we have expressed our disagreement with the Cuban dictatorship and have spoken worldwide of the pain of the Cuban people. We have never nor would we ever collaborate with anyone who supports the Cuban dictatorship or Che Guevara. This should be apparently clear due to our trajectory."

"[Is "90 Millas" another crossover -- into World Music?] I can see that. The core is African rhythm -- half of the world's music comes from that. The difference between our music and American blues: Cubans may have been slaves, but in Cuba slaves became part of the family. They could buy their freedom. And they are Island people. And Island people are happier. But, you know, in the '80s, when we released "Conga," wasn't that World Music? Everywhere we went, people got it. And why? The drums. So maybe all music is World Music, and the only question is: Do you like it?"

"Well, I'm proud of it. I was declared persona non grata not by the country but by a terrorist regime. But I know that Cubans love me and my music."

"Well, not so much politics. A couple of my songs have a social commentary, like Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice). I really can't escape from politics because my father was a political prisoner in Cuba; he went to Vietnam. But I try to stay away from politics as much as possible."

"It taught me that I had a lot more discipline than I thought; a lot more patience. [I became] more expressive, not only personally with my family, but in my music and my way of communicating."

"It has always been my dream in life to help as many people as possible. That dream and many more have come true for me and my family, and I find my greatest rewards come from sharing what I have received with others. Emilio and I established this foundation to expand our charitable work in an effort to help those less fortunate. Our focus with the foundation has always been to help the many individuals whose challenges have fallen through the cracks of the traditional charitable organizations."

"I do also have a couple of surprises -- which I can't tell you, because then it wouldn't be a surprise. So, don't ask what the surprise is. I'm not going to tell you."

"Our focus with the [Gloria Estefan] foundation has always been to help the many individuals whose challenges have fallen through the cracks of the traditional charitable organizations."

"This is an opening gift that we are making in conjunction with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of half a million dollars."

"We established [The Gloria Estefan Foundation] in 1993, because I was getting so many pitches from charities that I thought the best way to maximize our charity dollars was to establish a foundation, where you can do so many things. [The royalties from] four of my songs go directly to my foundation, and I don't have to bother people for money. I have been funding it myself all these years, from different concerts that I do that pay right to my foundation. It's what I love to do. It's something that makes me very happy. . . [The foundation has helped] from small things to large things. Every time there has been a natural disaster, we, thought the American Red Cross, have helped. Not just here , but in Nicaragua and Honduras. Obviously, Miami is very close to my heart."

"Well, you know, in the first place I'm a pretty private person. But I can assure you that I'm no saint by any means of the imagination. You know, we go to parties and we drink like any other people. But I think the key word is balance. I've been married (to keyboardist Emilio Estefan) for 28 years; we've been together for 30 years. I had my son when I was very young and my priority has always been my family. My husband has been very supportive. We live a very normal life, something that may be boring to some people. But it's a great life! We travel a lot. My son is 26 and my daughter is 11. Family is the center of our lives. We try to stay out of the tabloids."

"A woman's exterior beauty is a reflection of her internal peace and happiness."

"My grandmother would shanghai pilots at the Havana airport so they'd bring me cartons of mango baby food -- the only kind I'd eat. I learned to eat peach later. And in every carton, she'd slip in a Cuban record."

"I had gone to Miami Children's [Hospital] to do a book reading for my "Noelle" book, and they [staff at The Brain Institute] introduced me to this project that they had. And it so beautifully coincides with my spinal cord research -- my Miami Project [to cure spinal paralysis] pet charity -- because, as you know, I was paralyzed and in a wheelchair. So, I want to be there for that cure. It makes me happy. I really feel privileged to be of service. From the day I can remember, you know -- as far back as I can remember in my memory --I wished to be of service in some way."

"We are trying to celebrate in the new album -- 90 Miles [coming out in the summer of 2007] is the fact that after almost 50 years our homeland [Cuba] is not ours. We have amazing musicians on board preparing this album, and some continue to come on board. It's all new music we've written - all new stuff . . . No relaxing for me . . . I've got the Connie Francis screenplay I'm working on, which we just finished. We have a producer . . . I've got to meet the director that I'm going to go hammer . . . I've been working on it since 2000 with Connie Francis, who is darling. Plus, I'm a mommy . . . I take her [12-year-old Emily] to games, take her to school, pick her up . . . We're women, we're used to [constantly juggling responsibilities]."

"Well, fortunately, I am bilingual and I have really two cultures. So when you have that to draw on, you are able to write from one extreme to the other, or anywhere in-between. If you look at my discography, you will notice that one of my favorite albums is "Gloria!", which is totally dance-oriented, with very sensual lyrics; and then there's "Mi Tierra which is totally roots-oriented and really promoted our culture worldwide through music, and that's important for me and also for people of Cuba to know that even though we were in exile and I grew up in the States, our culture and our music are very much a part of my life."

"Now my life is pretty much bliss. I have two healthy children and a great marriage (Emilio and I have been together for 28 years). I still have one ambition: to do a concert in Cuba. It's the beginning of the end for Castro and, well, I've performed for every audience of practically every nationality except my own. Performing there would be one of the highlights of my life."

"Music should always be a means of bridging gaps and uniting people. The beauty of music is that it can -- and should -- gather a wide variety of concepts in a way that's universal."

"My favorite process is writing, from day one. The songs I have written throughout the years were a real great opportunity for me to communicate, because I think that's my prime objective on this planet."

"It would be difficult for me to go back [permanently] to Cuba because Miami is my city. . . That's where we have made our life. That's were I feel at home . . . But I would love to be, you know, whatever help I can be [post-Castro] to the people who will be leading themselves. I do think Cuba does have to find its leadership from within. They have a very different society from what we are used to. They are going to need certain things that a democracy might not provide right away. And I don't think it's going to be as quick a change. I think [Castro's] death will bring change, needless to say. But I think his brother [Raul] will try to save the specter of the revolution for quite a while. And maybe start doing some opening [to improve U.S.-Cuba relations]. That is what I feel will happen."

"We went back [to Cuba] once, in 1979, when President Jimmy Carter gave the opportunity for people with family members to go. We went to help get Emilio's only brother and his two kids [one of whom, Lili, is la Flaca from Univision's El Gordo y la Flaca] out. We got them a visa through Costa Rica, but when Emilio's brother announced that he was leaving, [the government] starting taking repressive measures against him, so he went into hiding for two months until they were able to leave. While we were there, Emilio and I bought them things they didn't even know existed, like apples and olives, from the diplotiendas [stores open only to tourists]. To this day, Lili has an olive fetish."

"My dream is to perform in a big, celebratory concert in a free Cuba, but I don't think they'd even let me into the country. And if they did, I'd have to speak against what is going on, which the government fears. I don't know how much change toward democracy we'll see as long as one of the Castro brothers is around, but I do believe there is a future with a new leader someday. But this leader will also love Cuba and really want to take her forward. When that day comes, Emilio and I will be there in any way that we can be of service."

"He makes me laugh like crazy. We're still kids inside. We're mature and responsible when it comes to business, but we know how to have fun."

"Being a mom is my number one job. My son [Nayib, 27] lives in Los Angeles and he has his own company where he works on music and film projects, but he calls me every day. Emily [who is 12] is very athletic; she plays tennis and basketball. I love going to her games. If she needs help with her home work, I'll sit with her. She also is very musical -- she writes poetry and plays the guitar. I always tell both my kids, "Find what makes you happy. The money will come regardless of what you do, and more or less of it is not going to be what makes you happy. Spending hours at something you enjoy will.""

"I make the best pancakes you'll ever have! And I claim that title gladly. On Saturdays I make them for everybody."

"I like them in their natural state. They're like nuclear lemonades!"

"It's a dream for any artist to have a catalogue of music that would be considered his greatest hits. For me, as a singer and songwriter, to release a collection of music that spans over two decades of my life and career is especially meaningful. Those songs represent a life in progress. As it is with any life, people and experiences become a part of one's creations and helped give birth to twenty-four albums. I would like to dedicate this body of work -- especially "Nayib's Song" and "Along Came You" -- to my two beautiful children who inspired those songs and who inspire me on a daily basis, and whom I consider my best works to date. I owe a great deal of gratitude to all of my fans who have ridden this incredible rollercoaster of life with me and who are the reason I have tried to remain true to the gift I have been granted: that of making music. And although it's very difficult to decide what is truly essential, you can be sure that what is in this collection is what you -- the fans across the world -- made into hits. And for that, I will be eternally thankful."

"Because they were idiots!"

"What happened is the music listener has become much more of a connoisseur and a king of his own destiny. You can no longer shove an album down their throats and say, 'Here's 15 songs, four of them are good, you know. Spend 20 dollars on this CD.' It's not going to happen. That's what has taken the music industry down."

"I've got a producer [for bio pic on singer Connie Francis' life] . . . . We're almost there."

"[My husband Emilio] found the last remaining virgin in the '70s -- and that was me."

"The secret of a long marriage is shaving your legs every day . . . because it shows you still care."

"I do [like being a redhead] . . . I do . . . because lighter is better as you get older . . . It's nice . . . I can't be a blonde. I'm definitely not a blonde . . . So, that doesn't leave too many other colors available."

"We're lucky to call Miami and the United States home. What other city can claim to have its own foreign policy? Miami is many things, but it is never boring."

"How can we expect something positive to come from all the negative that we put into this world?"

"When [my mother] saw we were not going to be able to go back [to Cuba] it became increasingly important for her to make our culture very prevalent and very important in our lives -- and in our household. We spoke only Spanish. I didn't learn English until I went to school in first grade. And the [Cuban] music and the food was very much a part of our life. I'm glad for that, because it is as well for my children."

""Noelle's Treasure Tale" is based on the historical fact that three Spanish galleons full of treasure sunk off Florida's treasure coast and have never been recovered. I have a beach house on the Treasure Coast, and I'm out there with my snorkel looking for the treasure."

"[To beginning readers (ages 4 to 8) at a reading of "Noelle's Treasure Tale"]: If you discover a word in my book that you don't understand, ask your parents so they can look it up in the dictionary for you."

"I thought it would be lovely to use [pet bulldog] Noelle as an example to teach the importance of being who you are. For me it's important to inspire children in a positive way, and at times they understand more messages through entertainment than when one is talking to them directly."

"[As of November 17, 2006] 'Noelle's Treasure Tale' has remained at No. 3 on the New York Times children's best seller list since its October 10 release."

"I had always thought about a lullaby album. But when Noelle came along, my little Colombian bulldog, she really gave me a plethora of ideas. I remembered when I was little in Texas and I was the only Hispanic in my class. Because the first book was about feelings, how Noelle's weaknesses turned into her strengths. That you have to keep your identity."

"The only difference [between promoting a book and a CD] is when I do the readings. My fans are out there in full force, but it's nice to have all the kids there as well. I really love this evolution of writing. Writing is my core, and writing the book was like writing a really long love song. I have 31 pages to elaborate instead of three minutes. And my target audience, although it is children, I don't talk down to them. I want the parents to find it interesting. [Children] sit in my lap. I love it. I've always tried to turn an arena into an intimate setting. So, if I'm already in an intimate setting . . . You get to talk to a few hundred people, and you get to really bring them in, to have an exchange with them that often doesn't occur on the stage."

"What do you expect for your $12,000?"

"Everything's funny for God's sake. Everything."

"A lot of the people who live here [Miami] are island people -- from Cuba, Haiti. People are very vibrant, and color is important living here. You're inspired every day by the sun, the sky, the landscape, the lushness. [Artist Romero Britto's] painting and artwork reflect that."

"[I] grew up in this city [Miami], and my music is a blend of two cultures. In the beginning it was heavily Cuban. At this point it's [from] all over . . ."

"Neither. I did not bring my crown, and the last thing I would want to do is get into politics."

"[Cuban coffee is] very powerful, very sweet, and a little dangerous —- just like the people who drink it."

"I left Cuba when I was two years old. They took away my country, they stole the most intimate thing a human being can have. How could I forget that Fidel Castro was the person who did me so much harm?"

"My grandfather . . . was a commander in the Cuban army -- not just a Batista [General Fulgencio Batista y Zalduvar was Cuba's 19th president from October, 1938 until January, 1959)] -- but he was a career general there. And he had been through a few of the different presidents of Cuba . . . My father became a motorcycle officer. He was a good-looking guy, so he was chosen to be the first lady's [Mrs. Batista's] escort. So they were very close to the government when Batista came in power. And then immediately after [Castro seized power on January 1, 1959] [my father] joined the Bay of Pigs invasion to try to liberate Cuba . . . and he was a political prisoner for two years there [in Cuba]."

"My mother, my dad and I left Cuba when I was two [January, 1959]. Castro had taken control by then, and life for many ordinary people had become very difficult. My dad had worked [as a personal bodyguard for the wife of Cuban president Batista], so he was a marked man. We moved to Miami, which is about as close to Cuba as you can get without being there. It's a Cuba-centric society. I think a lot of Cubans moved to the US thinking everything would be perfect. Personally, I have to say that those early years were not particularly happy. A lot of people didn't want us around, and I can remember seeing signs that said: "No children. No pets. No Cubans." Things were not made easier by the fact that Dad had begun working for the US government. At the time he couldn't really tell us what he was doing, because it was some sort of top-secret operation. He just said he wanted to fight against what was happening back at home. [Estefan's father was one of the many Cuban exiles taking part in the ill-fated, anti-Castro Bay of Pigs invasion to overthrow dictator Fidel Castro.] One night, Dad disappeared. I think he was so worried about telling my mother he was going that he just left her a note. There were rumours something was happening back home, but we didn't really know where Dad had gone. It was a scary time for many Cubans. A lot of men were involved -- lots of families were left without sons and fathers. By the time we found out what my dad had been doing, the attempted coup had taken place, on April 17, 1961. Initially he'd been training in Central America, but after the coup attempt he was captured and spent the next wo years as a political prisoner in Cuba. That was probably the worst time for my mother and me. Not knowing what was going to happen to Dad. I was only a kid, but I had worked out where my dad was. My mother was trying to keep it a secret, so she used to tell me Dad was on a farm. Of course, I thought that she didn't know what had really happened to him, so I used to keep up the pretense that Dad really was working on a farm. We used to do this whole pretending thing every day, trying to protect each other. Those two years had a terrible effect on my mother. She was very nervous, just going from church to church. Always carrying her rosary beads, praying her little heart out. She had her religion, and I had my music. Music was in our family. My mother was a singer, and on my father's side there was a violinist and a pianist. My grandmother was a poet."

"For fourteen years [1966 to 1980] [my father] suffered a debilitating disease [multiple sclerosis]. I took care of him for most of that time, until he was no longer able to be taken care of at home . . . So, in essence, I was caring for [my father] and my younger sister [Becky], six years younger than I. It was difficult for me. It was a tough time. Music was my escape -- my catharsis. My way of just getting my emotions out. Music has always been a beautiful force in my life."

"I'm looking forward, though, one day, if I'm not too old, to do a free concert in a free Cuba. That to me would be fantastic. We're looking forward to it. Well, hopefully, I mean he's [Castro] gotta go [die] sometime. He's gotta go sometime -- let's hope it's sooner [rather] than later."

"When I first came to Miami [in 1959], you'd see signs like "No Children, No Pets, No Cubans." We were a major threat. We lived in a very small apartment behind the Orange Bowl, where all the Cubans lived. All the men (including my father, Jose Manuel Fajardo) were political prisoners in Cuba, and it was purely women and their kids. There was one car the whole community bought for $50, and the one lady that could drive would take everybody to the supermarket and the Laundromat."

"I was 16 months old when I left Cuba, so I really don't remember anything [about Cuba]."

"I'd lock myself up in my room with my guitar. I wouldn't cry. I was afraid if I let go just a little bit, it would all go. I would sing for hours by myself . . . . It was my way of crying."

"[While her father was a political prisoner in Cuba] I was always singing and dancing and reciting poems -- that was how I used to do my crying over my father. There were a lot of negotiations between the US and Cuban governments over the next couple of years [1961 - 1963]. [Castro proposed an exchange of prisoners for food, medicine and building machinery], and eventually my dad was released. It was wonderful to have him home -- it was probably the happiest time in my life. For once, the whole family was together, living a normal life. That was when my sister, Becky, was born [1964], and it was also when I started guitar lessons. I would lock myself away in my room for days, learning how to play. Even then I was beginning to work out that music was a way to cut throught all the BS."

"You know, I don't know about this "Diva thing," O.K. This "Diva thing" is getting a little out of hand, I think. I mean if anything, I'm a divette."

"I have a twenty-month-old baby [girl], [and] a sixteen-year-old boy— same maturity level."

"No fighting, Glorias! Gloria Estefan [the real one] to two female impersonators [Gloria #1 and Gloria #2]"

"I bit down three nails rooting for the Heat."

"Those of you who speak only English, applaud [audience applause]. Those of you who speak only Spanish, applaud [audience applause]. [In mock incredulity] Then how do you know what I just said?"

"Excuse me, you have binoculars in the second row . . . and there're zoom . . . What exactly were you looking at there? . . . Very cute . . . Well, get your money's worth, honey."

"She [then nine-year-old daughter Emily] grew up with 'The Rhythm is Gonna Get You,' Well . . . It got her!"

"Careful! We don't want anybody getting squished."

"Not even a bomb scare could keep Gloria Estefan from her fans."

"Now in addition to being applauded as a five-time Grammy-Award-winning artist, Gloria now has the distinction of being titled a two-time New York Times best-selling author!"

"[My forthcoming book features] Noelle's experience as a loveable, yet very unconventional looking dog, who must find her way through life in her new adopted home, feeling different and confronting a bevy of clustered animal cliques whose ultimate reluctance to include Noelle in their world is soon offset by Noelle's true, albeit hidden, beauty. [I hope it has] special resonance with the immigrant communities in the United States (primarily of Hispanic heritage) who may, like Noelle, feel they culturally do not, and will not, fit in with a culture so foreign from their own."

""Noelle's Treasure Tale" [Estefan's second children's book] comes out October 10 [2006]"

"{Fame has] given me a lot of free love -- and that's the best thing fame can afford you. What has it taken away? My privacy."

"I majored in Psychology in college. I was going to be a child psychologist."

"[After college] I was going to study at the Sorbon and become a diplomat. Being a diplomat comes in handy when you are dealing with record companies."

"I only used my whole life one perfume: and it's Cartier's Le Must."

"When you are happy it is harder to write [songs]."

"If I had to take everything into consideration, [the truly essential song] would have to be "Conga." First, because I don't think I can get away with not performing that song in some shape or form. Second, because it started the possibility of "Mi Tierra" [Estefan's top-selling Spanish album] happening. Not only did it talk about a specific rhythm of my homeland [Cuba], it talked about being Latino, and the celebratory nature of dance. It was very musically forward in that it mixed a funk bassline and a 2/4 beat on the drums and the Latin percussion. It was something that really put us on the map. And even though it's a frivolous and fun song, it talks about who we are as immigrants in this land."

"Dad joined the US Army by this point [1964], and initially he was stationed in Texas and then South Carolina. But the Vietnam war brought our normal life to an end. Once again, Dad was gone. Communications were very basic back then: Dad couldn't just pick up a cellphone and let us know he was okay. Months would go by without a letter or anything. Eventually he bought two tape recorders -- one he kept with him and one for our house. Dad used to talk into the recorder and send the tapes home. Then we would gather round our machine and tell Dad stories. And I would sing. I still have all the tapes, but I can't listen to them. It hurts too much. After Dad came back from Nam, he wasn't well. He'd been poisoned by Agent Orange and needed quite a lot of looking after. Mum was busy trying to get her Cuban qualifications revalidated by a US university, so I had to take care of Dad and my little sister [Becky]. It was tough. Toward the end, Dad was too far gone and he didn't really know what was happening around him. I joined Miami Sound Machine in 1975 and we were getting quite successful, but Dad didn't even know who I was. He had to be moved to the hospital. On my wedding day in 1978 [September 2] I went to visit him, still wearing my wedding dress. That was the last time that he said my name. Dad died in 1980, but he touches my life every day. On my last album [Unwrapped] I did a lot of writing while I was looking at a picture of him in his younger days -- so happy and in the prime of his life. I'm not sure if he sees me, but I can feel him all around me. I hope he knows that I am so very proud of him."

"When I wrote "Words Get in the Way" my husband and I had just had a horrendous argument . . . . [After it was an international hit] My husband said, "We have to have more arguments.""

"As a writer, I see myself more as a communicator. For me, writing is the best part of my career."

"I'm signed to release the third book in the series. When they invited me to do the Noelle book I had started on an autobiography, sort of, because I still get a lot of questions about that. I done so much music in my life, and writing is a beautiful outlet to continue to grow."

"When I did "Unwrapped" -- that's one of my favorite albums I've ever done in my life -- I love it when someone listens to the whole album. But I would rather them be able to buy some songs that they like, [rather] than not buy the album at all . . . . You can't fight technology. You can't fight, you know, the consumer."

"I fought my company [Sony] tooth and nail when they stopped putting out singles."

"For I've finally realized, that I could be infinitely better than before, definitely stronger. I'll face whatever comes my way, I'll savor each moment of the day, Love as many people as I can along the way. Help someone who's given up, even if it's just to raise my eyes and pray."

"Sometimes one bad decision can mess up your life. We seal our fate with the choices we make. But don't give a second thought to the chances we take... Surely, you say, it's not as bad as you make it sound. If we make a mistake, you can always turn it back around. Get back on the straight and narrow -- When I'm through having all my fun . . . We seal our fate with the choices we make . . ."

"Why be afraid if I'm not alone? Though life is never easy, the rest is unknown. Up to now, for me, it's been hands aginst stone. Spent each and ev'ry moment, Searching for what to believe. Coming out of the dark, I finally see the light now. And it's shining on me. Coming out of the dark, I know the love that saved me, You're sharing with me. Starting again is part of the plan. And I'll be so much stronger holding your hand. Step by step I'll make it through; I know I can. It may not make it easier, But I have felt you near all the way . . . Forever and ever, I stand on the rock of your love. Love is all it takes, no matter what we face."

"I just want to be happy, joyous and free."

"Till I had you I didn't know that I was missing out. Had to grow up and see the world through different shades of doubt. Give me one more chance to dream again. One more chance to feel again through your young heart. If only for one day let me try. I wanna see Christmas through your eyes. I want everything to be the way it used to be. Back to being a child again, thinking the world was mine . . . I see the rain, you see the rainbow hiding in the clouds. Never afraid to let your love show. Won't you show me how. Wanna learn how to believe again. Find the innocence in me again, through your young heart. Help me find a way, help me try. I wanna see Christmas through your eyes. I want everything to be the way it used to be. Back to being a child again, thinking the world was kind. I wanna see Christmas, Christmas through your eyes."

"I want my Cuba free!"

"I think I deserve this (honorary) law degree just because I have been sued so much . . . For those of you heading out into the world -- don't be scared, getting sued is the first sign of success. As long as you didn't do anything wrong -- don't worry about it. It's just part of this great country."

"My friends call me 'Dolittle One' [a reference to her physical stature and affinity for animals]."

"I wanted to talk to very young kids about self-image and about being different and how that can be your strength, especially from the immigrant perspective."

"I saved her {pet bulldog Noelle's) life -- and she changed mine. [Noelle is the title character of The Magically Mysterious Adventures of Noelle the Bulldog -- Estefan's first children's book.]"

"Just because we're celebrities, we shouldn't get dissed. What people might be complaining about is that they think a lot of these [other] celebrities don't write their own books. But I've written every word in this book -- both in English and in Spanish. I love music and I love children and I love animals, and it's a great combo of all those things."

"[My first children's book] is very subliminal, let's put it that way. It even has a bit of a metaphysical little message in there [about how] we're all somehow connected and we all have a responsibility toward each other. Although you may feel alone in the world, you definitely are not."

"We [Emilio and I] have diversified: We run four restaurants, a hotel, a recording studio, a publishing company, and we have our corporate offices and a lot of other real estate."

"We [Emilio and I] fell in love with the Old World Florida ambience, beautiful beaches and warm people. We discovered Vero Beach when we were looking for a vacation home that was close to Miami but gave us a different feel than what we were used to. We hope to increase the awareness of Vero Beach by highlighting the many wonderful things that made us fall in love with it. We want the rest of the world to realize what a gem this place is. We hope to welcome our friends from the entertainment world at the opening as well as members of the community. It will be a warm, special and intimate event. We will open our doors the same way that Vero Beach opened its doors to us."

"For 15 years [Miami Sound Machine and I] recorded and toured to establish a fan base. Now it's time for me to enjoy it."

"When I began singing 'Conga' athletes from all over the world busted out of formation to dance with me, [and] I thought: 'Wow, what a great choreography!.' I thought it was planned. But then the tower started shaking and I thought: 'Great, first the bus, then the boat, now the tower!'"

"My home is my paradise. When I come home at night, I feel an overall peaceful sensation. We will never give this place up."

"Are you kidding me!"

". . . Latino or Hispanic families are quite matriarchal, if you hadn't noticed -- despite what we let the men believe. Hey, that's the way it goes. The men know it too, but we have to keep that illusion alive for them -- that there're the boss. Hey, I see that strikes a cord. Thank God, the men are applauding too."

"And we think the world would benefit from a much more feminine approach to the problems we are facing in the world today. Yes. The world needs to be nurtured and loved and rocked and caressed -- it needs some softness to balance out. And, I think, little by little we'll be able to give it that -- besides strength, because, you know, we have the babies for a reason. Yes, indeed."

"[My mother] closed the school the next day [after a visit from Castro's soldiers], because she knew that the purpose of education was the broadening and opening of children's minds. And she couldn't be a party to the systematic closing of minds, borders, freedoms and ideals."

"But, I'm sure you weren't aware of the dream that was born in me when I was small . . . Well, let me rephrase that -- when I was young -- because, technically, I'm still very small. And I get this from everybody when they meet me: 'You're so tiny.' I guess I am. I don't feel any height, but, apparently, I am not that big."

"I dreamed of becoming a writer. And . . . this dream is about to become a reality with the publication of my first, and hopefully not my last, children's book . . ."

"And, because of the life that I shared with these two amazing women [her mother and maternal grandmother] and the hardships and struggles that I saw them overcome, I learned an invaluable lesson: and that is that women can do anything we set our minds to . . . and then some!"

"I wrote these two songs ["Coming Out of the Dark" and "Always Tomorrow"] as a celebration of hope. And, I want to send it out to all of those people who are suffering through this terrible disaster [Hurricane Katrina], and please know that you are not alone -- and you will not be."

"The separation of families to me is very close to my heart because we lived that as immigrants. I strongly feel that we all connected, and having felt people's love and support first-hand through difficult moments in my life, makes me feel it's our responsibility to help one another. I am privileged to help in some way, and I will always take that opportunity."

"Toys are not a need people typically think of, but they've got all these kids who have absolutely nothing to do."

"We wanted to not just have a presence there [areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina] and raise awareness in the Hispanic community -- and anyone else who might be watching -- but leave them a little better than when we got there."

"We want the disaster victims to know we have not forgotten them. I'm here with help."

"We took portable showers, Pampers and clothes for kids [in a Hurricane Katrina shelter]. I sang for them and played the guitar . . . At least for a little while, they saw that someone wasn't forgetting them. It lifted their spirits, and I knew they were a little more comfortable when we left."

"Everyone is helping each other out. That's what we do . . . . You know what happens? Infrastructure might not come through -- but people do come through. We all try to do our best. I know we just got power back in one of our restaurants, and I know there are a lot of people without power. So, we invited a thousand people with children to come over and have a hot lunch on us."

"My foundation trys to help people that fall through the cracks, [people] that can't get help from big organizations . . . . We try to fill in where [other] people don't help out."

"I overheard backstage . . . Did someone just auction off Emilio and me? That was scary!"

"I'm a writer. I've written most of the music we've performed. Most people don't know that because no one cares who writes the music. But, that's who I am. I've written poetry since I was a little girl. Music was an evolution of that."

"If Michael Jackson could write a song for a rat, I could write a song for [my pet bulldog] Noelle."

"I've been offered a lot of things that celebrities do that I wouldn't do -- like perfumes, lines of clothing and this that and the other. But this [children's book] is right up my alley."

"I've bought more music for my Ipod in one year than I bought in the last ten years of my life."

"I'm a writer and this is what I love to do. There's no reason that just because you're a celebrity, you can't write."

"I'd like them to see that those things that set us apart or make us different can be wonderful contributions to the world around us. I'd like them to see that size and color are irrelevant to the dreams we envision for ourselves. And I'd also love for them to see that life is a journey, and every step of the way, we can learn something and become stronger and wiser."

"I can tell you I wrote every single word in this [her first children's] book -- in English and Spanish. I've been writing poetry and stories since I was a kid. And I am a songwriter. But you have limitations when you are a songwriter . . . . It was really a luxury to have 31 pages to expound upon."

"I totally animal-oriented. I've got nine dogs, eight birds, turtles, fish -- and I had wallabies at one point."

"The script [for the movie based on the life of singer Connie Francis -- "Who's Sorry Now?"] is finished and is in the hands of several artists to see if somebody wants to film at the start of [2006]."

"However long we live here, however much I feel at home in Miami, I -- like everyone else -- am an exile, an exile who cannot go home."

"We spent all our time lighting candles in the churches and praying for father's safe return. But even then [1961 and 1962], as a little girl, I knew that he was really in prison and that God had nothing to do with it. Since then I have never had any belief in religion."

"I spent my childhood alone, overweight and ugly, angry at everything, and knowing nothing of a life beyond this sadness."

". . . My best friend [as a young girl] made this mole on my face, because she would get in a fight with me and scratch me -- by the third time the scab came off the [mole] was there . . ."

"[After the 1990 bus accident] I could not feel my legs, and I knew that I was paralyzed. For me, this was a premonition of my worst fate proved right. When I was a child, I always ran up the stairs two at a time, and when I reached the top I would say to myself, one day I won't be able to do this because like my father I will lose the use of my body. Now I knew it had happened. For months afterwards I was locked back in myself, just as I had been when I was a child. But also part of my premonition had always been, strangely, that I would lose my body but in the end it would be all right."

"I have had a life in which I have had to face every big fear, and it has not been pleasant."

"I received an award for 25 million in [album] sales the night before the bus accident [in 1990]."

"[After a poor prognosis for recovery from her doctor following her 1990 bus accident] I said if it is up to me, I'm going to be OK."

"More than anything I want to be able to go back to Cuba, to have a house to visit there, to know my roots. I lost my father as a little girl, and I want to be able to find him again in my heritage."

"Then [after Castro dies and her triumphal return to Havana], at last, I could sing for my people."

"Having experience paralysis firsthand -- sixteen years ago -- I feel especially fortunate to have had a positive outcome despite a very negative prognosis. I vowed that I would do whatever was in my power to assist those already on their way to finding a cure. I urge anyone in a position to help to join us in taking on this challenge, knowing that we are closer than ever to a cure and to helping those that live in wheelchairs to "get on their feet.""

"It is always hard to hear people say such nice things about us, because quite honestly I feel very privileged and honored to be of service in any way I can. I think that is my mission here on earth in some way -- whether it is entertaining people or trying to help in whatever way I can. So [the attention and acclaim] is pretty embarrassing to me."

"There are singers who can captivate a community. There are vocalists whose sound can penetrate deeply into your soul. There are entertainers who can mesmerize, enlighten and entertain, all in one breath. [And there is] Gloria Estefan -- who does it all, effortlessly."

"Once again [with the CD "Unwrapped"], Gloria's mission is accomplished. As an entertainer, a vocalist and a writer, she has invited the world into her heart. The result is nothing short of incomparable."

"Gloria Estefan is going to be here. She writes these books about her dog, Noelle . . . and she also dances and sings well, too."

"Of course in Miami, not denouncing Fidel Castro at every turn is almost as bad as saying Gloria Estefan can't sing."

"I had the greatest pleasure of listening to Gloria Estefan's lecture on "Life, Art and Spirituality" at the Graham Center of Florida International University today. It was a great experience. She is such a wonderful, amazing woman, and a great inspiration. I believe that everyone who attended her lecture today was blown away by her sincerity, kind words and her sense of humor . . . yes, because even in the darkest days of her life, there was a little room for humor. She spoke of the power of prayer, and how different this world would be if we were to stop the violence, and the hating, and the wars between us."

"There are certain people in our business that are known as ladies, that are known to be classy and intelligent . . . I found out that [Gloria is] all of the above."

"It is always so, I guess, validating when you meet somebody that you esteem -- and then they turn out to be everything [you thought] and more."

"Darling, you look like a religious icon there [in her high school graduation picture]."

"I love Gloria Estefan, though -- she is cool. It's always just been about the music with her and they've been really good fun pop songs and really great ballads. And she's still going strong. She's quite classy and true to her Latin roots."

"Gloria Estefan was a huge influence for me. Of course, she was one of the few Latina women around who had this major international success. She sang in Spanish and English, and she was very much the sort of woman I recognised from my culture. I go to her home, and I think that she is a woman who has got it just right. She has her music, she has her family, she has her relationship. I admire her so much because she has always put her family before everything. All her priorities are in place and she is still an amazingly creative artist."

"The United States stands tall, representing a parade of nations, 300 million strong. That number will grow during today's citizenship ceremony, featuring the national anthem performed by pop star Gloria Estefan. She captures the essence of what makes this country so great: Ms. Estefan arrived from Cuba as a 2-year-old and would eventually chase her ambitions of becoming a singer. She would incorporate salsa into mainstream American music, reflecting the true meaning of this country as a melting pot."

"You've got a new Spanish-language album out now ["90 Millas," released in September of 2007], and the single ["No Llores"] is #1 on the Billboard Latin chart."

"Getting this caliber of musicians together [for "90 Millas" CD in September of 2007] is almost impossible to do again."

"[The hardest thing about '90 Millas' was the concept of] combining the old and the new without losing the authenticity. The simple solution, of course, would have been to record covers. [But] emotionally it wouldn't have been the same We left Cuba as children: Gloria was 1, I was 14. So, there ia a part that does exist in nostalgia, but a the same [time] there is another part that is contemporary music that we've made all over the world."

"What I propose is that dialogue should take place among cultures and civilizations. And as a first step, I would suggest that cultures and civilizations should not be represented by politicians but by philosophers, scientists, artists and intellectuals.[...] Dialogue will lead to a common language and a common language will culminate in a common thought, and this will turn into a common approach to the world and global events."

"Faith and Religiosity is compatible with human nature,The most Wretch man is one who has no religion."

"One cannot reach paradise by creating Hell for others."

"We believe that Hizbullah has an authentic Lebanese identity. We love Hizbullah. I emphasized this in talks with Mr. Chirac, who said he has never called to weaken or disarm Hizbullah, and on that matter he is in disagreement with some of his European allies. Hizbullah will remain and keep its weapons."

"Hezbollah is like a shining sun which warms up all oppressed Muslims, especially those in Palestine and Lebanon."

"Offending and insulting, is different from expressing an opinion that can be analyzed, argued on, and can eventually be accepted or rejected [therefore offending others is not acceptable] … But in addition to the west, we ourselves also have problems in this regard. Instead of logical criticism or debate, we only keep saying offensive things about liberalism, democracy and modernism. I had told some of our elders before, that the religion of the today's world is 'liberalism' and we have no right to make insults about it. We should not keep using phrases such as "the corrupt culture of the west" etc. in our words. As it's also said in the Holy Koran, "Do not insult the gods of others, otherwise you are indirectly insulting your God"."

"...the policies that the United States has chosen unfortunately have brought about the wrong sentiment toward the United States and has only increased, and will only increase, extremism in our region."

"I don't like the death penalty, although if there is one case where there should be an execution, the fairest case would be for Saddam. But I would never wish for that."

"Of course we may assume many general and non-historical meanings for secularism, but turning a subject that is in all its existence a historical matter into a non-historical matter is a blatant mistake."

"Secularism is the experience of the Western culture and thought. Insisting on spreading it to places where the underlying intellectual background, and the political and social reasons for its appearance are lacking, is clearly a mistake, regardless of being desirable or not."

"Without a doubt, we will succeed in moving forward, only if we have the capacity to reap the benefit of positive, scientific and social accomplishments of Western civilization."

"Liberalism is the world's religion. We do not have the right to insult liberalism."

"A basic change in political ethics is required for the realization of the proposal [The dialog among civilizations]."

"In order to understand the meaning of the phrase dialogue among civilizations as defined here, one has no choice but to closely pay attention to a number of points one of which is the relationship between a politician and an artist, and the other is the relationship between ethics and politics."

"Must I always send a message for everything," when asked why he had not responded to the award for Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian Nobel Prize winner, four days after it was made. "The Nobel Peace Prize is not very important, the ones that count are the scientific and literary prizes," he added. However it seemed in those early remarks, Khatami was trying to reduce conservatives anger over Shirin Ebadi, who wore no hijab while accepting the prize in the ceremony, because later Khatami in an interview reported by Iran press service.com () on December 12, 2003 said: "The Nobel Prize is very important in all domains; it is obvious that every Iranian must be proud to know that another Iranian, especially an Iranian woman, got this Prize. This said, more important than the prize of the peace is peace itself. Our world is a world of war, a world of terror and violence, a world of illness and famine, a world of discrimination", he replied when observed that the welcome reserved to the laureate in Iran was "tepid". "Politic is always an important factor. She continues her work, a work that, I hope, she would be able to pursue freely in Iran. I also know that she had some problems"

"Pope John Paul II was a seeker of truth, justice and peace. Pope John Paul II was a disciple of religious mysticism, philosophic deliberation and thought and artistic and poetic creativity, By emphasising his experience and teachings, (he) earnestly tried to utilise them in the path of the triumph of truth, justice and peace. It is hoped that the leadership of Catholic Christianity, by following the teachings of the Prophet Jesus, may peace be upon him, by interacting with justice seeking and peace loving political-religious leaders and by also following the ethical and humanitarian thinking of John Paul II, help the world towards a better and more just life."

"Terrorism, which means killing civilians in whatever name or title, lacks morality, and nobody who lacks such principle will go to heaven."

"In response on the motives of suicide bombers, he said that, Those who put others through hell will never go to heaven"."

"After years of fundamentalist rule, Iranian voters, especially women and lower-income people, selected a moderate cleric, Mohammad Khatami, as president in 1997, giving him almost 70 percent of the vote. Khatami was also reelected in 2001 to serve into the year 2005. President Khatami attempted to increase the level of democracy, enhance women’s rights, and pursue friendlier relations with the US and its allies. However, his ability to carry out reforms or modify Iran’s foreign policy was limited because fundamentalists continued to dominate the courts, armed forces, and police. Most importantly, President Khatami’s power as head of government was superseded by Iran’s head of state, the fundamentalist supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s moderate politicians were weakened by US President George W. Bush’s hostile attitude toward Iran after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In response, voters in 2005 elected an Iranian president more openly critical of Bush administration policy, fundamentalist-supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

"Allow me also, on behalf of the Asian Group including the Malaysian delegation, to record our appreciation to his Excellency President Khatami of the Islamic Republic of Iran for his dedication and contributions during his tenure as the chairman (Islamic Summit). Iran's role in the furtherance of Islamic causes is not new to us and we are most grateful for its untiring effort."

"We are facing someone [Iran] who has an army, money, and a political plan for the Arab Islamic Middle East."

"I realized that democracy is indivisible, or rather, that freedom is indivisible. There are many clown-democracies in the Arab world, which have nothing to do with freedom."

"President Chavez, from here, on behalf of our people, I thank you for the good you may have done (...) and the bad and you have failed to do, the history will judge you."

"The people who are in real danger never leave their countries. They are in danger for a reason and for that they don’t leave."

"Life is about relationships"

"I don't get what is wrong with eating bad junky food all the time! benefits include dying earlier and saving at least 2 hours a day"

"activists who think they are making changes in their countries are not. the people on the ground are the ones who make that #Syria"

"deleted my Yahoo, Hotmail, flickr, digg and stumbleupon accounts one way forward to social freedom"

"They can't stop us #Syria"

"My dear friend, a doctor and spokeperson of the Physicians' Coordinating Committee in Damascus was killed today by Syrian security forces"

"Syrian Tweeps: there is a conf on human rights in silicon valley in 2 days let's use the hashtag #Rightscon to pressure them to unblock us"

"Enjoying Lebanese Internet :) I didn't think that one day would consider this as fast connection. but 30kbps is great comparing to #syria"

"Facebook, youtube and Blogspot are officially unblocked in Syria now. YAY!!"

"super excited about the change in Syria, no more blocking for social networks!!"

"Bye! Bye! Flash http://www.youtube.com/html5"

"Ideas hate conference rooms"

"Sorry, but your system does not meet the minimum system requirements to read this tweet"

"Trustonomy: the trust economy"

"Aiki lab is a place for sharing, creation, collaboration, research, development, mentoring, and of course, learning."

"Hackerspaces are community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects"

"HackerSpaces are not for cracking, would you mind googlling that before writing complaints?"

"want to start building an open source cross-social-networks prediction RESTful API using aiki"

"Got a legal approve from the Syrian government for Aiki Lab the first hackerspace in the Arab world. starting very soon in Damascus"

"Thanks to the way your brain is wired, you're likely to screw over your future in order to stay loyal to decisions you made in the past"

"Dubai is now reduced to its component sounds: do-buy"

"scs-net filter (Syrian version of the great firewall of china) is blocking everything. why we can't get a good internet connection in Syria?"

"Life is spent looking while never seeing"

"Anybody who sends human aid, please make sure that it reaches hungry and homeless people not to people who will rent BMW M3"

"It is ironic that the accumulation of arms is one of the few expanding industries in a period of economic depression and gloom."

"Some 500,000 scientists all over the world are devoting their knowledge to the search for weaponry more sophisticated and more deadly."

"The beauty myth is always actually prescribing behavior and not appearance."

"Beauty provokes harassment, the law says, but it looks through men's eyes when deciding what provokes it."

"To live in a culture in which women are routinely naked where men aren't is to learn inequality in little ways all day long. So even if we agree that sexual imagery is in fact a language, it is clearly one that is already heavily edited to protect men’s sexual—and hence social—confidence while undermining that of women."

"The books and films they see survey from the young boy's point of view his first touch of a girl's thighs, his first glimpse of her breasts. The girls sit listening, absorbing, their familiar breasts estranged as if they were not part of their bodies, their thighs crossed self-consciously, learning how to leave their bodies and watch them from the outside. Since their bodies are seen from the point of view of strangeness and desire, it is no wonder that what should be familiar, felt to be whole, becomes estranged and divided into parts. What little girls learn is not the desire for the other, but the desire to be desired. Girls learn to watch their sex along with the boys; that takes up the space that should be devoted to finding out about what they are wanting, and reading and writing about it, seeking it and getting it."

"For the first time in history, children are growing up whose earliest sexual imprinting derives not from a living human being, or fantasies of their own; since the 1960s pornographic upsurge, the sexuality of children has begun to be shaped in response to cues that are no longer human. […] Today's children and young men and women have sexual identities that spiral around paper and celluloid phantoms: from Playboy to music videos to the blank female torsos in women’s magazines, features obscured and eyes extinguished, they are being imprinted with a sexuality that is mass-produced, deliberately dehumanizing and inhuman."

"Just as 'beauty' is not related to sex, neither is it related to love. Even having it does not bestow love on a woman, though the beauty myth claims that it must. It is because 'beauty' is so hostile to love that many beautiful women are so cynical about men. […] The beautiful woman is excluded forever from the rewards and responsibilities of particular human love, for she cannot trust that any man will love her 'for herself alone.' A hellish doubt inheres in the myth that makes impersonal 'beauty' a prerequisite for love: Where does love go when beauty vanishes? And, if a woman cannot be loved 'for herself alone,' for whom is she being loved?"

"What becomes of a man who acquires a beautiful woman, with her 'beauty' his sole target? He sabotages himself. He has gained no friend, no ally, no mutual trust: She knows quite well why she has been chosen. He has succeeded in buying a mutually suspicious set of insecurities. He does gain something: the esteem of other men who find such an acquisition impressive."

"A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience. Women's dieting has become what Yale psychologist Judith Rodin calls a 'normative obsession,' a never-ending passion play given international coverage out of all proportion to the health risks associated with obesity, and using emotive language that does not figure even in discussions of alcohol or tobacco abuse. […] Dieting is the most potent political sedative in women's history; a quietly mad population is a tractable one."

"The Victorian woman became her ovaries, as today's woman has become her 'beauty.' Her reproductive value, as the 'aesthetic' value of her face and body today, 'came to be seen as a sacred trust, one that she must constantly guard in the interest of her race.'"

"Health makes good propaganda. “'Proof' that women's activities outside the home are detrimental to the health and welfare of themselves, their families and the country as a whole” lent impetus, writes Ann Oakley, to the nineteenth-century cult of domesticity. The ovaries were seen as collective property rather than the woman's own business, as the face and body outline are seen today. Who can argue with health?"

"Pain is real when you get other people to believe in it. If no one believes in it but you, your pain is madness or hysteria."

"You do not win by struggling to the top of a caste system, you win by refusing to be trapped within one at all."

"I was completely dumbfounded but I actually had this vision of . . . of Jesus, and I'm sure it was Jesus. [...] But it wasn't this crazy theological thing; it was just this figure who was the most perfected human being - full of light and full of love. And completely accessible. Any of us could be like that. There was light coming out of him holographically, simply because he was unclouded. But any of us could become that as human beings."

"On a mystical level, it was complete joy and happiness and there were tears running down my face. On a conscious level, when I came out of it I was absolutely horrified because I'm Jewish. This was not the thing I'm supposed to have confront me."

"[Experiencing writers' block, Wolf sought specialist assistance. Being induced in "a light meditative state" (Wolf), she was required to descent downstairs in a relaxation technique.] I opened the door and there he was [...] I wasn't myself in this visual experience [...] I was a 13-year-old boy sitting next to him [Jesus] and feeling feelings I'd never felt in my lifetime, of a 13-year-old boy being with an older male who he really loves and admires and loves to be in the presence of. It was probably the most profound experience of my life. I haven't talked about it publicly [before]."

"Here's what we're not taught [about the Declaration and Constitution]: Those words at the time they were written were blazingly, electrifyingly subversive. If you understand them truly now, they still are. […] You are not taught—and it is a disgrace that you aren't—that these men and women were radicals for liberty; that they had a vision of equality that was a slap in the face of what the rest of their world understood to be the unchanging, God-given order of nations; and that they were willing to die to make that desperate vision into a reality for people like us, whom they would never live to see."

"[[w:Alex Cohen|[Alex] Cohen]]: There's never a line in this book that says George W. Bush is just like Hitler or Mussolini or Stalin, but there's enough that after a while there definitely seems to be the air of some comparisons happening. Isn't that a bit extreme to compare our president to these historical figures? Ms Wolf: Well, again, I stick very rigorously to the evidence. You had the Nazis unloaded coffins at night; we saw coffins being unloaded at night. They talked about enhanced interrogation, meaning torture; Karl Rove talked about enhanced interrogation, meaning torture. They said, you know, we've got to invade Czechoslovakia because it's a station ground for terrorists. And we said we've got to invade Iraq, a country we're not at war with, because they are torturing their ethnic minorities, it's a station ground for terrorists and they hate our freedoms. I don't need to draw an analogy. The analogies are there."

"JS [Justine Sharrock]: How is your comparison of Obama to Hitler any different from someone at a Tea Party holding up a placard of Obama with a Hitler mustache? NW: Those signs are offensive. If only the Holocaust was just about imposing health care on my people. Obama has done things like Hitler did. Let me be very careful here. The National Socialists rounded people up and held them without trial, signed legislation that gave torture impunity, and spied on their citizens, just as Obama has. It isn't a question of what has been done that Hitler did. It's what does every dictator do, on the left or the right, that is being done here and now. The real fight isn't left or right but between forces of democracy across the spectrum and the forces of tyranny."

"The First Amendment was designed to allow for disruption of business as usual. It is not a quiet and subdued amendment or right."

"It was amazing to go to Belfast, which does not yet have 5G, and feel the earth, sky, air, human experience, feel the way it did in the 1970s. Calm, still peaceful, natural, restful."

"So what can be done? Well, first of all, I can't believe that I'm saying this - a lifelong former Democrat and the child of hippies - but thank God for the Second Amendment. Because one reason the United States is not, you know, entirely enslaved like Australia or Shanghai or Canada, in many ways – we're relatively freer compared to those countries – is that we have, you know, millions of owners of guns. And I'm a peaceful person, this should not be taken out of context, but it is harder to subjugate an armed population. And this is why our Founders gave us the Second Amendment, for exactly times like these. They knew that it was harder to subjugate an armed population. But, you know, may that be the worst case scenario. I really hope that it doesn't devolve into civil war, which is really what the next thing is in history when you have an occupying force, which is what the WHO will be, you know, by next week."

"It was the doctors in pre-Nazi Germany in the early thirties who were co-opted by the National Socialists and sent to do exactly what we're seeing kind of replaying now. It was the medical organisations in the early thirties who were emboldened to be the arbiters of, you know, "life worthy of life, life unworthy of life"’, um, and to, kind of, medicalise and pathologise dissent or difference. So we're seeing wholesale purchasing of the medical establishment in the United States, in Britain and in countries around the world to do things much more serious."

"She is furthermore a serial espouser of mad conspiracy theories, insisting on their plausibility in the face of overwhelming evidence. In 2014 alone she managed to suggest that the Isis beheading victims were really actors, that the Scottish referendum had been rigged and that US personnel sent to Africa to help contain the ebola outbreak were really there as part of a plot to militarise the continent. Last year she joined the "chemtrail" conspiracists who believe that aircraft condensation trails in the sky are evidence of a secret government attempt at "geoengineering"."

"Wolf’s 1991 Fire with Fire – her call for a realpolitik in which 'sisterhood and capital' might be allies – misfired in Britain, partly because British feminism does retain a visceral if complex connection to political radicalism, to system-changing not tinkering."

"Wolf has tweeted that she overheard an Apple employee (who had attended a "top secret demo") describing vaccine technology that can enable time travel. She has posited that vaccinated people's urine and feces should be separated in our sewage system until their contaminating effect on our drinking water has been studied. She fears that while pro-vaccine propaganda has emphasized the danger the unvaccinated pose to the vaccinated, we have overlooked how toxic the vaccinated might be."

"Wolf’s story is instructive. The Beauty Myth, her 1990 blockbuster about the toll taken on women by the upward ratchet of unreasonable beauty standards, made her famous. In retrospect, the seeds of her intellectual decline were already present in that book, which contained both major statistical errors and a conspiratorial subtext that painted the influence of patriarchy as a deliberate plot. In the ensuing years, her work grew increasingly sloppy and absurd, until her reputation collapsed altogether in 2019 with the publication of Outrages."

"In the decade since Occupy, Wolf has connected the dots between an almost unfathomably large number of disparate bits of fact and fantasy. She has floated unsubstantiated speculations about the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden ("not who he purports to be," hinting that he is an active spy). About US troops sent to build field hospitals in West Africa during the 2014 Ebola outbreak (not an attempt to stop the disease's spread, but a plot to bring it to the United States to justify "mass lockdowns" at home). About ISIS beheadings of US and British captives (possibly not real murders, but staged covert ops by the US government starring crisis actors). About the results of the 2014 Scottish referendum on independence, which the "no" vote won by a margin of more than 10 percentage points (potentially fraudulent, she claimed, based on an assortment of testimonies she collected). About the Green New Deal (not the demands of grassroots climate-justice movements, she said, but yet another elite-orchestrated cover for "fascism"). She has even spotted plots and conspiracies in oddly shaped clouds."

"To see Naomi Wolf, that histrionic proponent of the third wave, pop up to demand that the women accusing Julian Assange of sexual assault and rape be named (surely they have already been shamed) is a logical conclusion of this deal. It is a dead end. Much of Wolf's work is privileged narcissism dressed up as struggle. The Beauty Myth did not have an original thought in it, but never mind, it remains the only feminist text read by many. Wolf and many of her contemporaries muddled the personal with the political to such a degree it is embarrassing. Wolf was snapped up by the media as she was beautiful – as though feminists couldn't be. Greer and Steinem were lookers, weren't they? Wolf's argument now about the anonymity of accusers in rape trials arrives on these shores a little after the Lib Dems dropped this peculiar proposal, which was never in their manifesto anyway."

"Wolf actually compared him to Oscar Wilde. The similarity is that they were both in solitary confinement. Practically the same person then? Of course, Wolf has every right to think what she likes about Assange's accusers – and to change her mind as she did about abortion – but what kind of feminism is she now espousing? I find it very difficult to know."

"I have to give credit to the new prime minister for not interfering with the judiciary. I appeal to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to make the necessary reforms."

"We will fight. When we take over the country, the first thing we will do is to bring down the price of fuel."

"We consider the NEP (New Economic Policy) is obsolete. I always say the NEP benefits the few family members of the ruling establishment and their cronies. So we stop this practice of awarding tenders, projects and privatization to family-related companies and cronies only at states where we are in charge."

"We also realize there is a new generation of Malaysians who were too young to remember the Reformasi movement that started a decade ago. Reaching out to them will happen in large part through technology."

"Thank God justice has prevailed I have been vindicated."

"No power on earth can stop the power of the people."

"All over again, after 15 years, they want to put me in the lockup and that is why they are rushing."

"Just because they are putting me in prison now I can’t announce my retirement. If I retired during the Federal courts deliberation then they would say it is a matter of conceding defeat. I have to then declare that I will fight."

"Most of Malaysia does not believe that I will get a fair trial or a decision based on the facts of the law. But I want to show young people that (my conviction) is a small price to pay in the struggle for freedom and justice."

"I will walk again for the third time into prison but rest assured that I will walk in with my head held high. I maintain my innocence."

"I maintain my innocence. This to me is a fabrication coming from a political conspiracy to stop my political career."

"We must together chart a new way forward to save our beloved nation."

"In order to call for a focus on the general elections, I am choosing not to offer myself as the candidate for prime minister. In hopes of amassing all strengths in a team to go against UMNO-BN, it is fair to ensure the participation of all leaders effectively. This includes benefiting from the position and role of Mahathir Mohamad."

"I and Mahathir have buried the hatchet already, it was a long time ago."

"The most significant lesson one can learn from prison life is the value of freedom. When you are incarcerated you realise what is the meaning and significance of freedom. No one, not Anwar, or ... anyone must be allowed to undergo the same travesty that has befallen any individual. I happened to be known, I happened to be supported by many people. But we must stop this once and for all, and it is our duty, and our duty particularly in Pakatan Harapan to end this."

"We talk of poverty and inequality, but in crafting an economic programme or policy for the future for this country, we must ensure no community, no region should be neglected."

"Of course it's not five years because he (Mahathir Mohamad)'s made it very clear they would not exceed two years. But it's important to allow him to govern effectively because we are in very difficult and trying times."

"Free media to my mind, of course, means a responsible media, which means certain rules which they have to observe, but this doesn’t have to be decided by the ruling power. Instead, it should be through an ethics committee run both by the media and authorities."

"Up to RM28 billion allocation a year to help the poor but there were leakages and neither the fishermen nor the farmers received the assistance. We don't want it to happen again as the help should reach the target and we need to identify the implementation method so there will be no more corruption and leakages."

"We have tried (in Malaysia), for the last half-century, a pro-Bumiputra policy that benefited cronies and elites. Look at the figures. Poverty has increased! Inequality has increased! It becomes like a clientelist system. And that needs to be rejected!"

"Our economy is in a dire state, hence we need to re-focus the economy. We cannot depend on those who have been abusing power and enriching themselves to champion the common cause of the people. The plight of the workers, the farmers and fishermen, they need to be protected."

"Malaysia fortunately has more than enough resources and wealth to address the issue of poverty. Therefore there is no excuse to not prioritize the problem at hand."

"I want to stress a matter that we shouldn't take lightly — are these numbers (Malaysia's daily COVID-19 cases) real? If you compare to countries with a similar population size — Australia, Malaysia, Canada — our testing capacity is too low. We want to know the total infections, which is connected to the total tests done. We test 10,000 people in a cluster, we'll get 1,000 (cases). If we test 100, we may get one. So, in order to safeguard public safety, testing capacity must increase."

"The people of Malaysia deserve leadership which can navigate effectively during these turbulent times (COVID-19 pandemic). Instead we have an unstable government whose inability to handle the crisis is driving the country towards an economic recession and rising racial tension."

"Firstly, Sabah's healthcare system, which is already under-funded, under-staffed, and under resourced is now inundated and overwhelmed by the (COVID-19) epidemic. MOH (Ministry of Health) has been diverting resources to Sabah but the ministry cannot do this alone. This effort needs political support from strong leadership and the involvement of NADMA (National Disaster Management Agency) and other ministries to mobilize adequate medical teams and equipment, improve logistics and provide wider reach of aid."

"That particular minister (Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz) has said there is already RM3 billion (to purchase COVID-19 vaccines). There is no record in the ministry, there is no record in the budget, RM 3 billion. I don't know from where. Is it that it is being hidden so that a deficit is not seen?"

"I haven't failed to be prime minister, it just hasn’t happened yet. I have to accept the fact that I am still the Pakatan Harapan's chosen candidate to be prime minister and if Malaysians support me for the post, I will continue to protect the people, especially those who need it the most, God-willing. I know those with billions of Ringgit do not really agree with me. They are afraid of me. I think that the people are more understanding and are more comfortable with me as prime minister."

"We do not defend those who take bribes and we do not condone that the authorities are being used as a political weapon. It appears to be the case with the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission). If you switch support, investigations will be postponed or thrown out, if not, the harassment continues."

"We are not going to compromise on the principles, the policies, and the values that we have adopted this far."

"Now that we have established the facts, we leave it to the Agong (King) to decide what is best to save this country from the present crisis."

"Referring to the flooding that occurred in the (Gunung Jerai) area earlier, the ministry should conduct a thorough investigation into whether there is any forest encroachment activity there."

"Our Cabinet is one of the biggest in the world with 69 ministers and deputy ministers. I think it's important that ministers and their deputies should at least be present to listen to the opposition leader's debate. This is part of transforming Parliament, a basic code of ethics, yet it was not complied with. This morning, I feel sad. When the opposition leader is speaking, there are only five individuals from the government bloc. Where have the other 60 over ministers and deputy ministers gone?"

"I have also made it clear to those who are preparing an office for the opposition leader in Parliament House that they should not make any renovations and not be granted additional allocations for it."

"You must understand that changes have to happen, but not with our uncompromising attitude. It can happen only when we are being wise, being intelligent and by attracting support from every quarter."

"The (Melaka election) SOPs limited campaigning. An informed choice should have been more democratic in spirit."

"Some people keep saying Anwar has failed, failed, failed. Hey, listen here. If you want me to be successful by becoming corrupt, find a new (party) president then."

"We want Bahasa Melayu but if can't speak English, it won't be good either. If it's an ordinary person, then okay, but if the person has become a graduate, what else a leader, they must have fluency of a second language. Okay, if you can't be fluent in English, then Arabic? French? Can as well."

"The seat distribution among PH (Pakatan Harapan) is already completed but we are negotiating with other electoral pacts such as Muda, PSM (Parti Socialis Malaysia) and others. But seat allocations for all parties under the PH umbrella especially in Peninsular Malaysia, DAP (Democratic Action party), Amanah and PKR (People's Justice Party), have been completed."

"Just received the sad news from Kuala Lumpur this morning that the mother of Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Mariah Khamis passed away this morning. I apologize to the leadership and supporters of Pakatan Harapan Sarawak that the campaigning trip to Miri and Kuching scheduled today had to be cancelled. We shall meet at another time."

"Alhamdulillah, today Pakatan Harapan has come up with ten main pledges for the rakyat (people) for GE15 (15th general election). Through these offerings, (Pakatan Harapan) is determined and focused on redeveloping Malaysia which has been plagued and beset by all sorts of crises, including lame policies and administrative weaknesses, health issues, crumbling economy, rising cost of living, dwindling employment opportunities, food supply and education issues among others. I implore the rakyat (people) to study this offer and therefore give us the mandate to emerge as the party with the clearest majority to govern and rule the country. We will work very hard for our beloved country, Reformasi!"

"This time, the chairman is Anwar. I call on fence sitters to give us the mandate so that we are free to implement this and will not face any threats after the election."

"In stating the need for a federal system, distribution of power is a must in the constitution of the country that is considered a federation. This is not a strange issue for Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia."

"Pakatan Harapan will fully implement the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and devolve certain powers to Sabah and Sarawak should it come into power after GE15 (15th general election)."

"Please! For goodness sake, for the sake of our children and our future, stop this rot (corruption). Stop this nonsense and it must begin on the 19th of November (2022, on the election day)."

"Give Pakatan Harapan a chance to set up a clean and authoritative government. The mandate you give is a responsibility for us to bring drastic changes to the country."

"The number of 70 ministers, which we had previously will be cut by half, their salaries will be cut by half too. The same goes with the prime minister's pay. If you want to be a minister under my cabinet, you need to accept this condition. This is the first step we will take to convince the people."

"I affirm that Indonesia is a true friend of Malaysia and I hope that trade and business relations, investment, culture and labor issues can be improved. The friendship between the two (nations) must be strengthened."

"I am a prime minister representing all Malaysians and to maintain peace and harmony."

"With my team, I will carry out this heavy responsibility based on the people's aspirations."

"You (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) are inspiring and you have stood by us as a good brother in difficult times. I look forward to improving our bilateral economic, commercial, and cultural relations between Malaysia and Turkey."

"I would like to inform you that yesterday (26 November 2022), I refused to use a Mercedes S600 vehicle that was purchased and obtained by the Prime Minister's Department before I came into office (of Prime Minister)."

"Without Azizah by my side, I would not have been able to undertake such a great responsibility at this time."

"It is with great sorrow and sadness to hear about the passing of former President His Excellency Jiang Zemin. On behalf of the Government of Malaysia and its people, please accept our profound condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the government and people of the People's Republic of China. He will always be remembered for his outstanding leadership and legacy during China's reform, opening up and modernization process."

"Please, don't do that (calling me the prime minister as papa)."

"Insha Allah, bilateral ties between both Malaysia and Turkey will continue to strengthen."

"In managing a country, we must follow the right order and rules."

"If we (government) want to spend (public fund), we have to check. This is a matter of good governance."

"Ministers will be sacked immediately if they are found to be involved in corruption."

"Thank you, Datuk Lat. It is not too late to promote a culture of reading."

"Hopefully, the cooperation between the federal and state governments will continue to be strengthened for the well-being of the people."

"I have never given a guarantee to anyone stating they will be released from punishment, unless decided by a judge who is free and fair."

"People say 'long live the Malays' but majority Malays are poor and face hardships. Only those on the top enjoy a good life. I want to be a Prime Minister for everyone."

"Government departments must formulate and develop suitable measures to implement targeted subsidies by taking into consideration the interests of the consumers and the industries and ensure smooth and effective implementation of the measures."

"Malaysia must redistribute bulk subsidies that have been enjoyed by the wealthy and conglomerates which were meant to support the B40 and M40 groups as well as small traders who are particularly affected and more in need."

"We also renewed our commitment to enhance Malaysia-Canada bilateral ties to a higher level."

"The Cabinet has tasked the AG (attorney-general) to look into the matter so that negotiations and discussions with Singapore on Batu Puteh (islet) will have a meaningful outcome. Further, we do not want this to result in issues or problems in the relations of two neighboring friends."

"The government intends to facilitate this industry to export produce and at the same time, ensure there is sufficient supply to meet the needs of the people."

"The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, has not taken his royal allowance since the COVID-19 pandemic began (in 2020). Sultan Abdullah had instead donated the funds in view of the country's economic situation and the struggles of the people during the pandemic."

"Based on the report by the National Action Council on Cost of Living on Tuesday, we decided that the earlier proposal to increase the electricity tariff will not proceed as this will burden the rakyat (citizens). We acknowledged that if nothing is done, there will be a negative impact on government finance which is quite high, exceeding some RM30 billion next year. So, only multinational companies and large companies that export products will be charged."

"God willing, we will be able to continue (to lead the government after the motion of confidence in Parliament on 19 December 2022). I hope you pray for us as well."

"I wished them (Malaysia's newly appointed heads of diplomatic missions) all the best in their endeavors and hope they can raise the country's name to a higher level with regard to foreign policy direction."

"Under my administration, Malaysia will remain steadfast in the struggle to end the suffering and to restore peace and freedom to Palestine."

"I did not ask for a pardon because I was punished, let this be clear on the record. It was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Muhammad V of Kelantan) at the time who took the initiative."

"It is my dream to go to an independent Palestine."

"Although there was a slight increase (in cost) to accommodate the realignment of the ECRL (East Coast Rail Link) project that we approved, (we managed to) bring down the total cost by RM11.01 billion."

"Due to the floods and issues faced by the people, we decided that big celebrations like the (2023) New Year's Eve countdown are cancelled."

"From RM15 billion (of flood mitigation program budget), we could save close to RM2 billion because we have put an end to direct negotiations."

"What I have done is that many of my duties as prime minister have been delegated to my deputies (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Fadillah Yusof)."

"As a multi-racial and culturally diverse country, it has become a habit and an obligation for each of us to take this opportunity (Christmas Eve) to strengthen friendship between the people by saying beautiful words to them."

"Azizah and I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to Prime Minister of India, His Excellency Narendra Modi, on the loss of your beloved mother, Smt Heeraben Modi. We share your sadness and our thoughts are with you during your period of mourning."

"Should we have mega projects but not be bothered about the people? We must not develop and yet destroy at the same time. The profits from the giant companies are big but the pay for the workers is still low. As we live with our faiths and morals, the job opportunities which we create must not make those who are employed lower themselves as human beings."

"Cabinet (of Malaysia) has unequivocally decided that health is the main priority, and that questions surrounding tourism and the economy cannot override these interests."

"Only 49% of Malaysians had their booster jab (as of today). COVID-19 is still not over, not just in Malaysia but globally. We still have around six million booster doses ready."

"The historical relationship between Malaysia and Pakistan that was established for a long time is not only limited to the current bilateral trade, but also in terms of culture, Islamic understanding and philosophy which has benefitted us greatly."

"We are going to tighten (COVID-19) screening (for foreign nationals entering Malaysia), but we won't discriminate against any country. Cabinet has unequivocally decided that health is the main priority, and that questions surrounding tourism and the economy cannot override these interests."

"I don't see any (political turmoil) development (here in Sabah). I was just informed that there are some issues and I have asked the (Sabah) chief minister to have a good discussion with friends in Sabah."

"Sometimes these politicians will say that if Anwar becomes prime minister (of Malaysia) then Islam will be ruined, secularism and communism will gain a foothold, and LGBT will be recognized. This is a delusion. Of course, it will not happen and God willing under my administration, this is not going to happen."

"I have stressed that Malaysia must be free from the greed of elite politicians in robbing the country's riches for their own benefits. I will not compromise on this matter even though it may jeopardize my own position."

"I hope this visit (to Indonesia) will be able to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries (Malaysia and Indonesia) in addition to exploring new cooperation opportunities through discussions with (the Indonesian) President Joko Widodo, Insha Allah."

"This is a bit personal, Mister President (of Indonesia Joko Widodo). When I was in a difficult situation, living in uncertainty and suffering, Indonesia welcomed me as a true friend."

"Usually an autobiography is written by someone who is retiring from his job. I have just been in this (Prime Minister of Malaysia) position for a little over a month."

"We will give room to the chief minister (Hajiji Noor) to hold discussions and find the best formula for the good of Sabah."

"Yes, I am giving my blessings to Hajiji (Noor). We have given our views. We want Sabah to be strong under (Chief Minister) Hajiji (Noor). Give him the space to discuss and find a good formula for Sabah."

"I also urge all civil servants to embrace the principles of democratic accountability for the sake of the people. As makers and movers of policies, we should not be complacent and must do all we can to effect change."

"The issue of welfare is called the Rahmah program. We will make it the theme in all programs to help the poor, especially the hardcore poor, which is our priority in the current government administration."

"Her reappointment as the chair of the foundation received consensus support from all 56 Commonwealth member nations. She is the first Malaysian and representative from Asia to hold the position since the Foundation was established in 1966. Congratulations, Datuk Sudha Devi!"

"If there are minutes that violates laws and regulations, I must be informed. Even if it comes from me. More so if it comes from my officers, the deputy prime ministers or other ministers."

"If we look at the savings in their EPF accounts, the amount is very low. As such, I will have to strike a balance between their current needs and their future. I am very worried about their future, so the government will look for options to assist them."

"I have left UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) for 30 years. I have nothing to do with UMNO anymore."

"The most important thing is for the country to be politically stable, clear in its direction, and strong in the desire to bring change to restore its dignity."

"The state and federal machinery should negotiate properly because we are under economic constraints. The national debt (of Malaysia) is estimated to be at RM1.2 trillion and the revenue is getting smaller, while the spending capacity is very limited."

"The problem with our (national) debt is it has already touched RM1.2 trillion and if liabilities are included, the debt is RM1.5 trillion."

"For the January-December 2022 period, Malaysia's export to Brunei increased by 33.3 per cent to RM7.4 billion (US$1.68 billion). Imports from Brunei were recorded at RM5.82 billion (US$1.21 billion), an increase of 154.8 per cent from the previous year (2021)."

"I know there are comments like 'Anwar likes to toy with numbers'. I seldom want to answer these, but I want to say here that any investigation into alleged corruption is for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to look at. But believe me, in my current position, I will not issue baseless statements."

"There are people who asked 'Anwar, if there are wrongdoings, why not prosecute?' Prosecution is not my job. Don't challenge me."

"As a general rule, previous announcements should be honoured although we might have some reservations. Otherwise, it will cause a lot of disruptions."

"His Majesty (Hassanal Bolkiah) has been watching and following our development (in Malaysia). Friendship is important, and ours has been good and...kind of personal. Whenever I'm in distress, His Majesty always shows concern."

"I want to start a new transition. No more just slogans. We want appreciation and practice and also truth, justice and unity. Malaysians have become cynical and are tired of just slogans and promises."

"If the main teachers take a wrong action, it must be questioned. Just because that person is a head of a political party, that does not mean all his statements are right. Islam did not teach us to do so (follow blindly). Islamic religious education should be based on deep understanding of the Quran, sunnah and the earliest of Ulemas. The interpretations must be questioned and corrected if need be. That is the tradition of seeking knowledge."

"We in Malaysia will not tolerate the burning of any holy book – be it the Quran, Bible or any other. There is no freedom to kill or dehumanise."

"I look forward to working closely with him (United States President Joe Biden) for the mutual benefit of our people."

"I received a congratulatory message from US (United States) President Joe Biden, who commended Malaysia's inspiring democracy in the recent general election."

"Indonesia accepted me as a true friend, so I will never forget that. Indonesia is a neighbour, we share the same roots and have a good friendship. It (Indonesia) was also a true friend at a time when I was cast out and sidelined."

"People can harp upon issues of race or religion, to me, it's completely irrelevant. It's a way and attempt by political leaders to disguise and hijack the central issues of governance in this country. They are going to appeal to the race, including the Malays, that their position, their power base is challenged."

"We have to continue to work together to make sure we save this country from corruption."

"I hope to save the country from corruption, all the money stolen, and give it back to the people."

"I don't think the Myanmar issue should frustrate our (ASEAN) moves. It would be ideal if we have a strong consensus in sending a strong message to the Myanmar regime. You (Myanmar) have every right to have your own domestic policies and priorities, but no country in these times should ever continue with discriminatory policies, marginalization of their people, intimidating, or worse, perpetrating violence against its own people."

"This year's economic performance is encouraging as a result of the reopening of the economy in line with a shift to a COVID-19 endemic phase."

"We are living in post-normal time as you know, unanticipated. There is something developing, simultaneous, sometimes spontaneous and would require some ingenuity in resolving many problems. Now, look at Malaysia, where is the problem? Political instability will kill the country politically and economically. For the last few years nothing seems to move, no policy, no direction and, because of that, leaders will take the chance to squander as much as possible. So, we have been at loggerheads, sometimes viciously I think, between PH (Pakatan Harapan) and the UMNO-lead coalition of BN (Barisan Nasional), but what was the consensus? That it is enough. We agree that we need stability. We agree that we need to chart a new future for the country. We agree on good governance and leading the country out of corruption and we agree that this is a country that is not racial. A strong Malay-based (society) to address the Malays' concerns, but to be able to embrace and include all races, this is the parameter on which we agree and the strong coalition and partners in Sabah and Sarawak will form a very formidable alliance with a two thirds majority, which makes Malaysia one of the most stable countries in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)."

"As what I explained in the previous (parliamentary) session, although it was a decision made by the previous government, to increase electricity tariff, the government now has withdrawn the suggestion and will only impose that on the T20 (top 20 income group) that are the multinational corporations (MNC) and other big companies, unless they are companies that are involved in food security."

"I was asked by the (Turkish) president (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) to be there (in Turkey) immediately, to give moral support (in the aftermath of 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake). (And) I am considering whether I should fly tonight to Türkiye to show our support. Several leaders of other countries have arrived in the country, and the president has asked me to personally be there."

"I will be part of the process (former Prime Minister Najib Razak's request for a royal pardon) and on the matters of the awarding of honorific titles and pardons, that is the prerogative of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. We don't have to debate this in public because we have to go through that process."

"The (political) appointments are for government-linked companies, not publicly-listed companies. Those appointed have the suitable qualifications. Unlike before, these appointments are based on their qualifications and it comes with a set of rules. For example, they must (carry out) their responsibilities well, they must not overspend and allowances are given based on their qualifications."

"If Najib is tortured in prison, PH (Pakatan Harapan) leaders including ex-prisoners like Anwar and myself will be the first to defend him. But has MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) any evidence that Najib is being tortured? The issue is the special treatment given to Najib that was never accorded to Anwar or me when we were in Sungai Buloh and Kajang Prison respectively."

"The Agong (Muhammad V of Kelantan) has indicated that he is willing to pardon Anwar. It needs to be a full pardon. More importantly, Anwar must be released immediately (from prison), after he is granted pardon by the King."

"I know how Anwar feels. It was during my administration that he was sent to (prison). It is not easy for him to accept me and shake my hand. And it's not just Anwar, but his family as well, who felt pressure when he was jailed. They suffered for 20 years."

"Anwar, I will give you a full pardon because I have been following the developments of your court case, which has seen breaches in the principle of justice."

"I would like to stress that any terrorist activity, no matter who does it and for what purpose, is the greatest blow to peace, democracy, humanity, and all religious values. For this reason, no one—and certainly no Muslims – can approve of any terrorist activity."

"The world should be assured that, although there may always be some who exploit any religion for their interests, Islam does not approve of terrorism in any form. Terrorism cannot be used to achieve any Islamic goal. No terrorist can be a Muslim, and no true Muslim can be a terrorist. Islam orders peace, and the Qur’an demands from each true Muslim that he or she be a symbol of peace and support the maintenance of basic human rights. If a ship is carrying nine criminals and one innocent person, Islam does not allow the ship to be sunk to punish the nine criminals, for doing so would violate the innocent person’s rights."

"The Qur’an declares that one who takes a life unjustly has, in effect, taken the lives of humanity as a whole, and that one who saves a life has, in effect, saved the lives of humanity as a whole."

"I strongly condemn this latest terrorist attack on the United States. It only deserves condemnation and contempt, and it must be condemned by every person in the world. I believe that before America’s leaders and people respond to this heinous assault, I would like to express that they surely understand why such a terrible event occurred and how similar tragedies can be avoided in the future."

"They try to portray us as a pro-Israeli movement, in the sense that we have a higher regard for them than our nation. We are accepting them as a people, as part of the people of the world."

"If I were to say anything to people I may say people should vote for those who are respectful to democracy, rule of law, who get on well with people. Telling or encouraging people to vote for a party would be an insult to peoples' intellect. Everybody very clearly sees what is going on."

"It is deeply disappointing to see what has become of Turkey in the last few years. Not long ago, it was the envy of Muslim-majority countries: a viable candidate for the European Union on its path to becoming a functioning democracy that upholds universal human rights, gender equality, the rule of law and the rights of Kurdish and non-Muslim citizens. This historic opportunity now appears to have been squandered as Turkey’s ruling party, known as the A.K.P., reverses that progress and clamps down on civil society, media, the judiciary and free enterprise."

"Turkey’s current leaders seem to claim an absolute mandate by virtue of winning elections. But victory doesn’t grant them permission to ignore the Constitution or suppress dissent, especially when election victories are built on crony capitalism and media subservience. The A.K.P.’s leaders now depict every democratic criticism of them as an attack on the state. By viewing every critical voice as an enemy — or worse, a traitor — they are leading the country toward totalitarianism."

"The latest victims of the clampdown are the staff, executives and editors of independent media organizations who were detained and are now facing charges made possible by recent changes to the laws and the court system. The director of one of the most popular TV channels, arrested in December, is still behind bars. Public officials investigating corruption charges have also been purged and jailed for simply doing their jobs. An independent judiciary, a functioning civil society and media are checks and balances against government transgressions. Such harassment sends the message that whoever stands in the way of the ruling party’s agenda will be targeted by slander, sanctions and even trumped-up charges."

"Turkey’s rulers have not only alienated the West, they are also now losing credibility in the Middle East. Turkey’s ability to assert positive influence in the region depends not only on its economy but also on the health of its own democracy."

"The core tenets of a functioning democracy — the rule of law, respect for individual freedoms — are also the most basic of Islamic values bestowed upon us by God. No political or religious leader has the authority to take them away. It is disheartening to see religious scholars provide theological justification for the ruling party’s oppression and corruption or simply stay silent. Those who use the language and symbols of religious observance but violate the core principles of their religion do not deserve such loyalty from religious scholars."

"Speaking against oppression is a democratic right, a civic duty and for believers, a religious obligation. The Quran makes clear that people should not remain silent in the face of injustice: “O you who believe! Be upholders and standard-bearers of justice, bearing witness to the truth for God’s sake, even though it be against your own selves, or parents or kindred.”"

"For the past 50 years, I have been fortunate to take part in a civil society movement, sometimes referred to as Hizmet, whose participants and supporters include millions of Turkish citizens. These citizens have committed themselves to interfaith dialogue, community service, relief efforts and making life-changing education accessible. They have established more than 1,000 modern secular schools, tutoring centers, colleges, hospitals and relief organizations in over 150 countries. They are teachers, journalists, businessmen and ordinary citizens."

"The rhetoric used by the ruling party repeatedly to crack down on Hizmet participants is nothing but a pretext to justify their own authoritarianism. Hizmet participants have never formed a political party nor have they pursued political ambitions. Their participation in the movement is driven by intrinsic rewards, not extrinsic ones."

"I have spent over 50 years preaching and teaching the values of peace, mutual respect and altruism. I’ve advocated for education, community service and interfaith dialogue. I have always believed in seeking happiness in the happiness of others and the virtue of seeking God’s pleasure in helping His people. Whatever influence is attributed to me, I have used it as a means to promote educational and social projects that help nurture virtuous individuals. I have no interest in political power."

"Many Hizmet participants, including me, once supported the ruling party’s agenda, including the 2005 opening of accession negotiations with the European Union. Our support then was based on principle, as is our criticism today. It is our right and duty to speak out about government policies that have a deep impact on society. Unfortunately, our democratic expression against public corruption and authoritarianism has made us victims of a witch-hunt; both the Hizmet movement and I are being targeted with hate speech, media smear campaigns and legal harassment."

"Like all segments of Turkish society, Hizmet participants have a presence in government organizations and in the private sector. These citizens cannot be denied their constitutional rights or be subjected to discrimination for their sympathy to Hizmet’s ideals, as long as they abide by the laws of the country, the rules of their institutions and basic ethical principles. Profiling any segment of society and viewing them as a threat is a sign of intolerance."

"We are not the only victims of the A.K.P.’s crackdown. Peaceful environmental protesters, Kurds, Alevis, non-Muslim citizens and some Sunni Muslim groups not aligned with the ruling party have suffered, too. Without checks and balances, no individual or group is safe from the ruling party’s wrath. Regardless of their religious observance, citizens can and should unite around universal human rights and freedoms, and democratically oppose those who violate them."

"Turkey has now reached a point where democracy and human rights have almost been shelved. I hope and pray that those in power reverse their current domineering path. In the past the Turkish people have rejected elected leaders who strayed from a democratic path. I hope they will exercise their legal and democratic rights again to reclaim the future of their country."

"I condemn the military coup attempt in Turkey in the strongest terms. Governments should be changed through fair and free elections, not by force. I pray for Turkey, the Turkish people and everyone in Turkey right now. I pray to God that this problem will be resolved in the fastest and most peaceful way."

"As someone who has suffered through every military coup in the last 50 years, it is humiliating to be associated with such an initiative. I unconditionally reject such slander."

"During the attempted military coup in Turkey this month, I condemned it in the strongest terms. “Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force,” I said. “I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly.”"

"Despite my unequivocal protest, similar to statements issued by all three of the major opposition parties, Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, immediately accused me of orchestrating the putsch. He demanded that the United States extradite me from my home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania where I have lived in voluntary exile since 1999."

"Not only does Mr. Erdogan’s suggestion run afoul of everything I believe in, it is also irresponsible and wrong."

"My philosophy — inclusive and pluralist Islam, dedicated to service to human beings from every faith — is antithetical to armed rebellion. For more than 40 years, the participants in the movement that I am associated with — called Hizmet, the Turkish word for “service” — have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, a form of government that derives its legitimacy from the will of the people and that respects the rights of all citizens regardless of their religious views, political affiliations or ethnic origins. Entrepreneurs and volunteers inspired by Hizmet’s values have invested in modern education and community service in more than 150 countries."

"At a time when Western democracies are searching for moderate Muslim voices, I and my friends in the Hizmet movement have taken a clear stance against extremist violence, from the Sept. 11 attacks by Al Qaeda to brutal executions by the Islamic State to the kidnappings by Boko Haram."

"In addition to condemning mindless violence, including during the coup attempt, we have emphasized our commitment to preventing terrorists’ recruitment from among Muslim youth and nurturing a peaceful, pluralist mind-set."

"Throughout my life, I have publicly and privately denounced military interventions in domestic politics. In fact, I have been advocating for democracy for decades. Having suffered through four military coups in four decades in Turkey — and having been subjected by those military regimes to harassment and wrongful imprisonment — I would never want my fellow citizens to endure such an ordeal again. If somebody who appears to be a Hizmet sympathizer has been involved in an attempted coup, he betrays my ideals."

"Nevertheless, Mr. Erdogan’s accusation is no surprise, not for what it says about me but rather for what it reveals about his systematic and dangerous drive toward one-man rule."

"Like many Turkish citizens, the Hizmet movement’s participants supported Mr. Erdogan’s early efforts to democratize Turkey and fulfill the requirements for membership in the European Union. But we were not silent as he turned from democracy to despotism. Even before these new purges, Mr. Erdogan in recent years has arbitrarily closed newspapers; removed thousands of judges, prosecutors, police officers and civil servants from their positions; and taken especially harsh measures against Kurdish communities. He has declared his detractors enemies of the state."

"Hizmet, in particular, has been the target of the president’s wrath. In 2013, Mr. Erdogan blamed Hizmet sympathizers within the Turkish bureaucracy for initiating a corruption investigation that implicated members of his cabinet and other close associates. As a result, scores of members of the judiciary and the police forces were purged or arrested for simply doing their jobs."

"Since 2014, when Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected president after 11 years as prime minister, he has sought to transform Turkey from a parliamentary democracy into an “executive presidency,” essentially without checks on his power. In that context, Mr. Erdogan’s recent statement that the failed coup was a “gift from God” is ominous. As he seeks to purge still more dissenters from government agencies — nearly 70,000 people have been fired so far — and to crack down further on Hizmet and other civil society organizations, he is removing many of the remaining impediments to absolute power. Amnesty International has revealed “credible” reports of torture, including rape, at detention centers. No wonder Mr. Erdogan’s government suspended the European Convention on Human Rights and declared a state of emergency."

"Turkey’s president is blackmailing the United States by threatening to curb his country’s support for the international coalition against the Islamic State. His goal: to ensure my extradition, despite a lack of credible evidence and virtually no prospect for a fair trial. The temptation to give Mr. Erdogan whatever he wants is understandable. But the United States must resist it."

"Violent extremism feeds on the frustrations of those forced to live under dictators who cannot be challenged by peaceful protests and democratic politics. In Turkey, the Erdogan government’s shift toward a dictatorship is polarizing the population along sectarian, political, religious and ethnic lines, fueling the fanatics."

"For the sake of worldwide efforts to restore peace in turbulent times, as well as to safeguard the future of democracy in the Middle East, the United States must not accommodate an autocrat who is turning a failed putsch into a slow-motion coup of his own against constitutional government."

"Turkey experienced the biggest disaster in its recent history with the coup attempt that took place on the night of July 15, and came back from the brink of a cliff. What happened that night can be described as a terrorist coup in the harshest terms. All segments of Turkish society, who thought that military interventions were a thing of the past, showed that they were on the side of democracy by taking a common stance against the coup attempt. I condemned the coup in clear and unambiguous language while the attempt was still going on."

"Just 20 minutes after the start of this treacherous coup attempt, before the perpetrators of the incident were even revealed, Mr. Erdoğan accused me. It is thought-provoking that the culprit was declared so quickly, even before the details of the incident were revealed and without knowing who did it and why. As someone who has suffered from many military coups over the last 50 years, it is offensive to me to be associated with such an initiative. I absolutely deny these accusations."

"I have been living a reclusive life in a small village in the United States of my own free will for 17 years. The claim that I persuaded the world's 8th largest army to stage a coup against its own government from 10,000 km away is an unconvincing slander and has not been accepted by the world public opinion. If there are soldiers who define themselves as sympathizers of the Hizmet movement among those who joined the coup plotter junta, in my opinion, those people betrayed the unity and integrity of their country by taking part in an attempt in which their own citizens lost their lives, violated the values ​​I have defended throughout my life, and caused the victimization of hundreds of thousands of innocent people."

"If there are those who were influenced by the interventionist culture in a section of the army and put these reflexes before their service values, which I do not think, their mistakes cannot be attributed to the entire movement. I leave them to God."

"No one, including me, is above the law. I want those responsible for this coup, regardless of their background, to go through a fair legal process and receive the punishment they deserve. Since the judicial system in Turkey has been under political tutelage since October 2014, the possibility of a fair trial is low. That's why I have repeatedly declared that an international commission should be established on this issue and that I would willingly comply with the conclusion of this commission."

"The participants of this movement have not been involved in a single act of violence throughout its 50-year history, and although they have been subjected to a "witch hunt", to put it openly by Erdoğan, in the last 3 years, they have not taken to the streets or defied the security forces. The Hizmet movement, which has been suffering under a systematic hate campaign and state oppression for 3 years, made its legitimate defense by complying with the limits set by the law and sought its rights only through legal means."

"For 3 years, in an unprecedented way in the history of the Republic of Turkey, all the security and judicial forces of the state have been mobilized to reveal the "parallel state" that they claim to govern. The government described the corruption investigations in 2013 as a coup attempt organized by my sympathizers in the bureaucracy, but despite the arrest of 4000 people, the dismissal of tens of thousands of people from their professions, and the illegal seizure of hundreds of institutions and companies, not a single piece of evidence was found to prove these allegations. The then prime minister, who compared the possibility of meeting with me in May 2013 to a blessing falling from the sky, began to use hate language in the public squares, including terms ranging from assassin to bloodsucking vampire, about the participants of this movement after the corruption investigation."

"After the treacherous coup attempt of July 15, this attack became even more unbearable. The Turkish Government systematically describes me and Hizmet sympathizers as "a virus and a cancer cell that needs to be cleaned." Hundreds of thousands of people who have supported the institutions and associations encouraged by this movement are portrayed as non-human beings. These people's assets are confiscated, their bank accounts are frozen, their passports are canceled and they are prevented from going abroad. Hundreds of thousands of families are experiencing a severe human tragedy as a result of a terrible witch hunt. It was reported in the press that nearly 90,000 people were dismissed from their jobs and the licenses of 21,000 teachers were cancelled. Will the government leave the families of these people who cannot practice their profession and are banned from going abroad to starve? How does this differ from pre-genocidal practices in European history?"

"I have seen all the military coups of Turkey and, like all Turkish people, I have experienced great suffering in all of them. After the coup of March 12, 1971, I was imprisoned by the decision of the junta administration. During the coup of September 12, 1980, an arrest warrant was issued for me and I lived on the run for 6 years. After the military coup of February 28, 1997, a lawsuit was filed against me on the charge of "one-man unarmed terrorist organization" and the death penalty was requested. During periods of military oppression, a lawsuit was filed three times on the charge of "leadership of a terrorist organization". I was acquitted of all these cases. While yesterday I was targeted by military governments with an authoritarian mentality, today I am being subjected to the same accusations, in a much more unlawful manner, by a civilian autocratic regime."

"In the past, I established friendly relations with leaders with different political views such as Mr. Turgut Özal, Mr. Süleyman Demirel and Mr. Bülent Ecevit, and I wholeheartedly supported their correct actions. I was respected by them, especially for the Hizmet movement's contributions to education and social peace. Although I always kept my distance from political Islam, I appreciated Erdoğan and AKP leaders for the democratic reforms they made in the first period of their rule. However, throughout my life I have been against the military's intervention in politics and military coups. 22 years ago “There is no turning back from democracy and secularism.” Because I said this, I was subjected to insults by political Islamist circles close to today's government, who opposed these values ​​at that time. I stand behind my words today, just like yesterday."

"I have more than 70 books published based on the articles I have written and the sermons I have given over the past 40 years. In these, there is not the slightest statement that allows the idea of ​​a coup, on the contrary, universal human values ​​that form the basis of democracy are addressed."

"Turkey's salvation lies in the deepening of democratic culture and the internalization of a merit-based state administration. Neither a military coup nor an autocratic civilian administration is the solution."

"Unfortunately, in a country where opposition media outlets are either closed or put under tutelage, a significant portion of Turkish citizens believed the allegations that I was the perpetrator of July 15, in the face of a massive propaganda bombardment. However, the world public opinion, which can look at the events more objectively, clearly sees that what is happening is an effort by those in power to increase their power under the pretext of a witch hunt."

"Of course, what is important is not what the majority thinks, but the facts that will emerge as a result of a fair trial. Of course, I and tens of thousands of people who have been subjected to such a serious accusation want to clear our name and be acquitted through a fair judicial process. We do not want to live with such suspicion cast upon us. Unfortunately, especially since 2014, due to the political control of the justice system, my right to exonerate myself and the accused Hizmet sympathizers have been taken away. Therefore, I make an open call to the Turkish Government and promise full cooperation. I demand that an international and independent commission investigate the coup attempt. If they prove even one tenth of the allegations against me true, I am ready to return to Turkey and suffer the heaviest punishment."

"Volunteers of this movement have been monitored by hundreds of governments, intelligence agencies, researchers or independent civil society actors around the world for 25 years and no illegal activity has been found. For this reason, many countries do not take seriously the Turkish Government's theses about the Hizmet movement."

"The greatest characteristic of the Hizmet movement is that they do not aspire to political power, but instead seek solutions to problems that threaten the future of their societies and require long-term efforts. At a time when the Islamic geography was characterized by terrorism, bloodshed and backwardness, they focused on raising educated and dialogic generations who actively contribute to the society they live in. Since I believe that the biggest problems of this geography are ignorance, strife and poverty, I have always advised my followers to "open schools, not mosques or Quran courses." Participants in the Hizmet movement are involved in education, health and humanitarian aid activities not only in Turkey but also in 160 countries around the world, from Asia to Africa. The most important feature of these activities is the effort to provide the same services not only to Muslims but also to people of all religions and ethnicities. It opened girls' high schools in the most difficult regions of Pakistan and continued to provide education in the Central African Republic during the civil war. In Nigeria, Boko Haram has taken girls hostage, while Hizmet participants have opened schools educating girls. I have encouraged people who share my ideas, both in France and in the French-speaking world, to fight against groups that espouse radical Islam and to support the country's authorities in this struggle. I have encouraged Muslims living in these countries to become free-willed individuals who produce added value for the societies in which they live, who are recognized for their contributions rather than being associated with problems. Unfortunately, the Turkish government is complaining to world governments about these people and the schools they opened, who had no involvement in the bloody terrorist attack of July 15, and who categorically opposed violence. My call to all world governments is to not take these unfounded claims seriously and reject irrational demands."

"As a matter of fact, the institutions that the Turkish Government closed down by declaring the Hizmet movement a terrorist organization as a political decision are schools, hospitals and humanitarian aid associations. The Hizmet volunteers, tens of thousands of whom have been detained and arrested, are teachers, entrepreneurs, doctors, academics or journalists. No evidence has been found to accuse these hundreds of thousands of witch hunt victims of either supporting the coup or any act of violence."

"It is not possible to explain actions such as the arson of the cultural center in Paris, the detention of sick journalists without regard to their health conditions, the closure of 35 hospitals and the humanitarian aid association Kimse Yok Mu, the taking of family members hostage when the wanted people could not be found, and the forced resignation of 1500 academics by associating them with the coup. It seems that the government is trying to intimidate non-governmental organizations as it is trying to purge all those who do not obey it from state institutions by appearing to target Hizmet participants. The human rights violations, including torture, reflected in Amnesty International reports are chilling. This is a human tragedy."

"The failure of the July 15 coup attempt is an event of historical importance as an anti-democratic intervention against the government that came to power through elections was repelled with the support of the people. However, preventing the coup is not enough for democracy to win. Neither the rule of a minority, nor the rule of the majority and its resulting oppression of the minority, nor the autocratism of the elected people are true democracy. Democracy cannot be mentioned without fundamental human rights and freedoms, especially the rule of law, separation of powers, and freedom of expression. For Turkey, real victory in the name of democracy is possible with the revival of these fundamental values."

"As the presidents of the United States and Turkey meet at the White House on Tuesday, the leader of the country I have called home for almost two decades comes face to face with the leader of my homeland. The two countries have a lot at stake, including the fight against the Islamic State, the future of Syria and the refugee crisis."

"But the Turkey that I once knew as a hope-inspiring country on its way to consolidating its democracy and a moderate form of secularism has become the dominion of a president who is doing everything he can to amass power and subjugate dissent."

"The West must help Turkey return to a democratic path. Tuesday’s meeting, and the NATO summit next week, should be used as an opportunity to advance this effort."

"Since July 15, following a deplorable coup attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has systematically persecuted innocent people — arresting, detaining, firing and otherwise ruining the lives of more than 300,000 Turkish citizens, be they Armenians, Kurds, Alevis, secularists, leftists, journalists, academics or participants of Hizmet, the peaceful humanitarian movement with which I am associated."

"As the coup attempt unfolded, I fiercely denounced it and denied any involvement. Furthermore, I said that anyone who participated in the putsch betrayed my ideals. Nevertheless, and without evidence, Erdogan immediately accused me of orchestrating it from 5,000 miles away."

"The next day, the government produced lists of thousands of individuals whom they tied to Hizmet — for opening a bank account, teaching at a school or reporting for a newspaper — and treated such an affiliation as a crime and began destroying their lives. The lists included people who had been dead for months and people who had been serving at NATO’s European headquarters at the time. International watchdogs have reported numerous abductions, in addition to torture and deaths in detention. The government pursued innocent people outside Turkey, pressuring Malaysia, for instance, to deport three Hizmet sympathizers last week, including a school principal who has lived there for more than a decade, to face certain imprisonment and likely torture."

"In April, the president won a narrow referendum victory — amid allegations of serious fraud — to form an “executive presidency” without checks and balances, enabling him to control all three branches of the government. To be sure, through purges and corruption, much of this power was already in his hands. I fear for the Turkish people as they enter this new stage of authoritarianism."

"It didn’t start this way. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came into power in 2002 by promising democratic reforms in pursuit of European Union membership. But as time went on, Erdogan became increasingly intolerant of dissent. He facilitated the transfer of many media outlets to his cronies through government regulatory agencies. In June of 2013, he crushed the Gezi Park protesters. In December of that year, when his cabinet members were implicated in a massive graft probe, he responded by subjugating the judiciary and the media. The “temporary” state of emergency declared after last July 15 is still in effect. According to Amnesty International, one-third of all imprisoned journalists in the world are in Turkish prisons."

"Erdogan’s persecution of his people is not simply a domestic matter. The ongoing pursuit of civil society, journalists, academics and Kurds in Turkey is threatening the long-term stability of the country. The Turkish population already is strongly polarized on the AKP regime. A Turkey under a dictatorial regime, providing haven to violent radicals and pushing its Kurdish citizens into desperation, would be a nightmare for Middle East security."

"The people of Turkey need the support of their European allies and the United States to restore their democracy. Turkey initiated true multiparty elections in 1950 to join NATO. As a requirement of its membership, NATO can and should demand that Turkey honor its commitment to the alliance’s democratic norms."

"Two measures are critical to reversing the democratic regression in Turkey."

"First, a new civilian constitution should be drafted through a democratic process involving the input of all segments of society and that is on par with international legal and humanitarian norms, and drawing lessons from the success of long-term democracies in the West."

"Second, a school curriculum that emphasizes democratic and pluralistic values and encourages critical thinking must be developed. Every student must learn the importance of balancing state powers with individual rights, the separation of powers, judicial independence and press freedom, and the dangers of extreme nationalism, politicization of religion and veneration of the state or any leader."

"Before either of those things can happen, however, the Turkish government must stop the repression of its people and redress the rights of individuals who have been wronged by Erdogan without due process."

"I probably will not live to see Turkey become an exemplary democracy, but I pray that the downward authoritarian drift can be stopped before it is too late."

"Next Saturday will be remembered as a sad day in Turkey's history, as it marks the anniversary of the heinous coup attempt in which hundreds of our citizens lost their lives and thousands were injured. On this day, I once again condemn this heinous attempt and its perpetrators, and send my condolences to those who lost their relatives and friends in this tragic incident."

"Unfortunately, after this disgusting incident, the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people in the country were ruined. By the instructions of the government, they were unlawfully fired from their jobs, detained, arrested and even tortured. The government continues to deprive its own citizens of their means of earning a living, their reputation in society, and their basic human rights in the witch hunt it has undertaken to eliminate anyone it deems disloyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his regime."

"Over the past year, I have been devastated that the government has linked tens of thousands of citizens to me or the Hizmet movement in some way, and then punished this attributed contact as if it were a crime. The accusations made against me regarding the coup attempt are unfounded and a politically motivated slander. The government's treatment of its innocent citizens for a year drags Turkey into the category of the world's most backward countries in terms of democracy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms. I reiterate my call, made immediately following July 15, for the establishment of an independent international commission of inquiry to fully examine the incident and bring the perpetrators of the coup to justice, and if such a commission finds me guilty, I stand behind my promise to return to the country of my own accord."

"Instead of explaining why they could not convince world leaders about the accusations they made against me, the government deceives citizens with conspiracy theories through the media they have turned into propaganda tools. Unfortunately, the Turkish people, who cannot hear the different arguments about this terrible event, are mobilized en masse around hate messages. Until now, few people have realized how similar the scapegoating of Hizmet volunteers was to the scapegoating of certain groups by fascist and communist totalitarian regimes in the 20th century."

"Democracy cannot be achieved or preserved by resorting to violence. Even if political leaders oppress their citizens by violating their basic human rights, their overthrow by anti-democratic means cannot be tolerated. Although they were subjected to oppression unprecedented in the history of Turkey in terms of the methods they used and the number of people they victimized, none of the Hizmet volunteers even raised a fist against the oppressors. Despite everything, they continue to strive through legal and peaceful means to get their rights. If, in the face of this situation, someone still doubts their commitment to the rule of law, tranquility and peace, this can only be explained by a fear arising from prejudice."

"My hope is that Turkish intellectuals will raise their voices and stand in solidarity with all the victims of oppression, and that people of law will not compromise on the principles of universal law by ignoring political pressures. May God Almighty take us out of this dark period as soon as possible and lead this blessed homeland to days of peace and safety."

"This community cherishes every person, their differences are not a reason for fighting; It consists of people who have come together around high human values, such as considering everyone as an element of wealth, accepting everyone in their own position, and holding the hands of young people, especially through education. It consists of people who find it reasonable to serve these values ​​through educational institutions, hospitals, humanitarian aid organizations and dialogue projects, within a framework that we can call "Quranic reasonableness". It is an Islamic movement in a sense, as most of them are Muslims and takes their inspiration from religious sources, but it is also a humanitarian movement in the sense that it embraces all humanity and aims to serve. So far, people from different beliefs and nationalities in 160 countries of the world have embraced them and become patrons of these projects."

"Those in political power continue the witch hunt they started in Turkey in the world. As their first duty, diplomats are trying to have the educational institutions of the Service transferred to the Maarif Foundation or closed down. They are trying to put our friends who work here on planes and send them to Turkey, disregarding international law."

"However, all these oppressions led to something they had never considered. The world got to know the service much better. He saw that we were not in the same line with those who used Islam for politics, and a curiosity and sometimes favor arose. Although this has a heavy price, it is a blessing from God Almighty."

"Among the people who knew the service well and devoted themselves to it, no one stepped back, with very few exceptions. However, among people with poor communication, there were those who remained silent or preferred to stay away for a while due to the influence of pressure and fear. In an environment where the state attacks an entire group and makes them a scapegoat, this should be considered normal in terms of social psychology. The Turkish Government was perhaps effective in some countries. By using bribes, threats and state relations as blackmail, they managed to close schools in some places or transfer them to the Maarif Foundation. However, they were not successful in western countries, America, Europe, Australia, Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, where they could buy people with money and not get the law delivered. On the contrary, Turkey's pressure and oppression created a positive curiosity and interest in service in many parts of the world. Some western countries also supported the service participants who fled the persecution in Turkey."

"Cruelty only lasts up to a certain point. Politicians have limited time. One day they will leave by democratic means. However, this movement, which is based on love and volunteerism, will continue, with God's permission, in hearts where resources are not sufficient, and in institutions where resources allow."

"Serving humanity for the sake of justice is a duty from both religious and human perspectives. The basic principles are clear and unchanging. It is necessary to make efforts in various sectors, especially education, for a world where people live in peace and harmony with each other, hold every human being dear, approach everyone with tolerance and respect, and embrace each other. However, depending on time and ground conditions, the form and format of these services may change."

"Unfortunately, today in Turkey these values ​​have been sacrificed to politics. Service represented moderation in Turkey. Radicalism has come to the fore with the polarizing policy followed by Erdogan recently. Religious schools became politicized, religion and religious education were used as a tool for politics. Members of the society were turned into enemies against each other. It will take years to repair the damage caused to society by this. As for the members of the service, under all this pressure and persecution, they have not compromised on their fundamental values ​​such as the rule of law and non-use of violence, and they want nothing but justice for those who oppress them."

"In Western countries where Muslims are a minority, the Hizmet movement's openness to dialogue and coexistence attracted attention and was appreciated. While the service participants were striving to properly represent Islam in the West, they also set a good example by integrating aspects of modernity that did not conflict with Islam. They played a role in breaking negative opinions about Muslims in the West. However, it cannot be said that this can be fully explained in Muslim-majority countries. Dialogue activities in Turkey in the 90s were evaluated as diluting and compromising Islam, and smear campaigns were carried out. Recently, the Erdogan government has tried to discredit the Service in the eyes of the public by presenting it as a pawn of foreign powers, the Vatican, the CIA and MOSSAD. Some groups affiliated with them have also made this propaganda in Muslim-populated countries outside Turkey and continue to do so. That's why we cannot say that we can express ourselves properly in countries with Muslim populations."

"Media and international observers have stated that recently, many expert police officers and terrorism experts have been dismissed due to political considerations and some have been imprisoned. World media also wrote that Erdogan supported some armed radical organizations in the region in various ways and that he wanted to become a regional power through these. For these reasons, it can be said that terrorist organizations such as ISIS and their sympathizers have found a much more comfortable environment in Turkey in the recent period."

"In this regard, both Muslims, powerful states and international organizations have duties. First of all, Muslims need to stop blaming the foreign policies of Western countries on the issue of terrorism and do some self-reflection. We need to question why there are so many young people among us who fall into the trap of terrorists. As Muslims, it is our duty to provide young people with a good education based on both religious and positive and humanitarian sciences, to include universal human values ​​in the education curriculum, and to ensure that human rights and freedoms are fully experienced in our societies. The duty of powerful states is to not see the problem of terrorism as a security problem that can be solved only by military and intelligence measures, but also to take steps regarding its political, economic and sociological aspects. They should take steps to ensure faster integration of Muslims living in their own countries and determine their foreign policies by valuing the lives of people living in other countries as much as they value the lives of their own citizens. The responsibility of international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union is to take measures to protect fundamental human rights and freedoms all over the world and to impose sanctions to stop the terrible human rights violations of the country administrations that oppress their own people."

"Those who know me and the movement closely know that Erdogan has never been my student. We have fundamental differences of opinion in many areas, especially the use of religion in politics."

"Aside from being students, we have never been close to Erdogan. We've only met a few times. Our friends' support to his party as citizens was based on their promises of democracy, human rights and freedoms. As a matter of fact, members of this community supported parties that called for democracy, defended European Union membership, and emphasized fundamental rights and freedoms in previous periods. But when Erdogan himself and his party turned 180 degrees from these values ​​and promises, our support could no longer be an issue, and that's what happened."

"One of the important reasons for the conflict is that the Hizmet Movement, which carries out successful educational activities around the world, did not embrace the "leadership of the world's Muslims" discourse claimed by Erdogan and did not support it in the international arena. For this reason, they are now trying to use state resources and mobilize all diplomats and intelligence agencies to close down Hizmet training institutions around the world or have them transferred to the Maarif Foundation, and to extradite the Hizmet participants there to Turkey and imprison them."

"Neither I nor those who devoted themselves to service set out on the basis of Western-origin ideologies. Our reference has always been the Islamic values ​​that were represented in the life of our Prophet (pbuh) and which we also believe are universal values. Holding every human being dear, equality before the law, giving women the opportunity to take part in social life, the rule of law in government and an administration with the participation of citizens... these are Islamic and universal values. Some may make some analogies to this stance, but our source is clear."

"We can say that Erdogan sees himself as the leader of the world's Muslims, and that he has become an embarrassment both with his words and actions, and with the use of the resources of the Turkish state to collect credit for himself in the world. In fact, those around him were not satisfied with this and called him a world leader."

"There may be people within the Brotherhood who are involved in terrorism and violence. There were also those who expressed this opinion in Europe and America. If there is such involvement in terrorism, this can never be approved. Our basic approach, which has not changed since day one, against all kinds of terrorist movements has been: “A true Muslim cannot be a terrorist. "And a terrorist can never be a true Muslim." Therefore, Islamic groups must take a clear stance against terrorism and violence and take a firm stance. Otherwise, the face of Islam will be darkened and the religion will be betrayed."

"However, it is not right to associate members of various Islamic movements in different countries around the world, who sincerely serve the religion without engaging in any form of violence, with terrorism in a wholesale approach. Otherwise, injustice would be done to those who are against terrorism, and therefore some people would be pushed into the arms of radical movements through such an unfair and unlawful practice."

"Yes, it reduced the country from a country with zero enemies to a country with zero friends. Because by interfering in the internal affairs of surrounding countries, he tried to design those countries through armed radical groups that he supported in various ways. He saw this right in himself, establishing himself as the leader of the Middle East and the caliph of the Islamic world. We did not approve of any of these. That's why he declared us enemies. From now on, he tried to achieve his political goals by blaming every negative event on the Service. For example, using the December 2013 corruption investigation as an excuse, he politicized the entire judiciary and thus rendered the judiciary ineffective. By disbanding the experienced police personnel that the country had trained for years, it rendered the police force inoperable. He ensured the transfer of major media groups to his supporters and prevented others from voicing the truth by silencing them, sometimes with advertising support and tenders, and sometimes with threats. Under the pretext of the July 15 incident, he inflicted the greatest historical damage on the Armed Forces and took them under his tutelage. In short, Erdogan turned state institutions into instruments of his political ambitions and polarized the public in an unprecedented way."

"He needed an enemy to justify all of this: When the service movement did not become a tool for his own political ambitions, he declared Hizmet as an enemy and started to motivate his base with this. In order to maintain this motivation, they are now trying to blame every problem on the Hizmet movement. It can also be said that he made the right choice for himself. Because he knew very well that no matter how much he slandered and oppressed, there would be no retaliation against him and that the people he served would not even raise their hands to shake a fist."

"I cursed the incident while it was happening and denied the accusations made against me. I invited Erdogan to establish an international commission of inquiry and promised to buy my own ticket and return if they agreed to their verdict and found me guilty. They didn't even respond to my offer. This shows that they have a lot to hide. As a matter of fact, they could not convince the world of their slander. I think July 15 is a scenario in which Erdogan is also involved. The truth will emerge over time, with God's permission."

"Why do Western countries and America not speak out against Erdogan's human rights violations and the imprisonment of thousands of people?"

"The reactions of the West and America to human rights violations in Turkey fell far behind expectations. We cannot say that they did not make any noise. Voices were raised from time to time from members of parliament, senators, ministry spokesmen and organizations within the European Union, but these mostly remained verbal and did not turn into sanctions. Unfortunately, short-term interests come to the fore in interstate relations. Europe's concerns about Syrian refugees and America's strategic relations with Turkey are among the main dynamics that shape the issue. Essentially, Turkey's embrace of Syrian refugees is not Erdogan's personal decision, it is the general attitude of the Turkish people. When we look at the issue from a security perspective, we can say that; Erdogan's taking all of Turkey's democratic institutions under his tutelage, one by one, drags the region into a tangle of problems. On the one hand, they are coerced into cooperating in the military and intelligence fields, while on the other hand, they are pursuing policies that pave the way for the continuation of violence and terrorism. A Turkey that moves away from being a democratic state of law is likely to be a part of radicalism and conflicts rather than being a representative of stability and peace in the region... As a matter of fact, we see examples of this."

"I would like to return if Turkey becomes a democratic and law-abiding state again, but it is not possible to say when this will happen. There is no sign of hope in the short term. But blasphemy continues, oppression does not continue. If God Almighty desires something, He creates its causes. A believer never gives up hope. We have not given up hope, and we will not give up."

"States act only within the framework of protecting their strategic interests in their international relations. To some extent, this can be considered reasonable. However, unprecedented human rights violations have occurred and continue to occur in Turkey's history. Service volunteers are subjected to treatments mentioned in the United Nations definition of genocide. Those who donate for the sake of Allah, donate to charity organizations and ask for the meat to be delivered to the poor, give scholarships to needy students, etc. People like these were detained like a joke and were subjected to torture. They confiscated the goods, businesses and workplaces of innocent people, which they had acquired through years of manual labor. They dismissed 150 thousand civil servants from their duties in a cruel and unjust manner, revoking all their acquired legal rights. They condemned them and their families to mass starvation. In the face of all these atrocities, we would have expected louder voices from the countries that have been Turkey's friends and allies throughout history. We can't say it never came out. There were leaders at the level of state administrators and council members who expressed their concerns and invited them to return to the legal line, but these did not turn into effective sanctions."

"On the other hand, many countries did not succumb to Erdogan's blackmail, using bilateral relations as a bargaining chip. They did not touch the service volunteers and institutions in their country. They opened their doors and arms to refugees fleeing persecution in Turkey. Egypt, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, America, Canada, Australia and many other countries. I would like to remember this with gratitude."

"There are different administrative systems in the world. These may vary from country to country. However, the main thing is to comply with universal principles such as separation of powers, rule of law and guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms. I do not think that these principles are or will be respected in the system that is intended to be implemented in Turkey."

"It can be said that behind every political step taken in recent years is Erdogan's desire to remain the sole power holder in the administration."

"I have previously expressed my opinions on the Syrian issue. A government in which the Sunni Arab population, Nusayri population, Kurds and non-Muslim elements all see themselves and are represented is a healthy solution for Syria. For this, if necessary, giving the government the opportunity for a democratic and gradual transition should be considered."

"My friends who follow the media state that the opposition does not accept any formula adopted by the current administration. However, in order to avoid more loss of life and victimization, I believe that it would be more appropriate to act on this issue with the principle of "if the best cannot be achieved, agree on what is good.""

"Turkish voters can of course change their stance. However, elections are not held fairly at the moment. The media is under tutelage, the judiciary is under tutelage, the capital is under tutelage. Under these conditions, it is very difficult to accurately determine what Turkish voters really think."

"He sees himself as the leader of the entire Islamic world and tries to present himself as such. It is trying to bring Muslim countries under its influence through different methods. This is why he takes a stand against countries and leaders who do not consent to this and do not intervene in their internal affairs."

"Egypt has an exceptional place in the Islamic world. This geography, which has been the cradle of civilizations in history, has also raised important people in Islamic history and hosted centers of science. Egypt maintains its special position and importance for the future of the Middle East. Egypt's internal peace and stability are of critical importance for this geography."

"NATO played a critical role in ensuring Turkey's security during the cold war years. At the same time, the steps taken for NATO membership contributed to Turkey's democratization. While this membership continued, Turkey took as an example the members of NATO, which are democratic and law-abiding states. Erdogan's initiative is a move that harms this alliance. However, it is very difficult to know their sincerity on this issue. Because they lied so much that we don't know whether they are sincere or whether they are doing it to get some concessions from America and Europe."

"My first Quran teacher was my mother. He made me memorize the Quran at a young age. At that time, despite the pressure from the state, he also taught the Quran to village children. Since it was forbidden to teach the Quran, he used to teach it in a barn next to our house, with a hidden entrance. His sacrifice impressed me greatly. From my father, I learned love for the companions and respect for Islamic scholars."

"These days, I write articles for Çağlayan magazine. Also, our friends transcribe some of our conversations and turn them into a book, and I proofread them."

"In the early 2000s, Turkey was hailed as a Muslim-majority country making strides toward improving its democracy. The ruling party, which took office in 2002, implemented reforms that aligned with European Union democratic standards, and the country's human rights record began to improve."

"Unfortunately, these democratic reforms were short-lived. Within a few years, reforms stalled, and after his third election victory in 2011, then-Prime Minister and now-President Erdoğan made a complete U-turn. Since then, the increasingly intense authoritarianism has made Turkey no longer a model for other Muslim-majority countries to follow. Some may see Turkey's recent negative example as evidence of the incompatibility between democratic and Islamic values. However, this would be a misdiagnosis/conclusion."

"Contrary to appearances, despite their outward appearance of Islamic sensitivity, the actions of the current government are diametrically opposed to core Islamic values. These core values ​​are not about a particular style of dress or the use of religious slogans. The fundamental values ​​of Islam related to governance are respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, the accountability of those in power, and the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of every individual. The recent regression in Turkey's democratic experience is not a result of adherence to Islamic values, but rather a betrayal of them."

"The people of Anatolia are a heterogeneous society. Whether Sunni, Alevi, Turkish, Kurdish, or of another ethnicity, Muslim or non-Muslim, religious or secular, its citizens hold very different perspectives on life, philosophies, and beliefs. Trying to make everyone the same is both futile and disrespectful to humanity. Everyone's understanding, feelings, thoughts, philosophy of life, and worldview must be respected. Participatory democratic governance, where no group, whether majority or minority, exerts its power over others, is the most appropriate form of government for such a heterogeneous society. The same can be said for Syria, Iraq, and other neighboring countries."

"As witnessed throughout history in Turkey and elsewhere, one method used by despotic leaders to maintain their dominance is to exploit differences within society and pit different groups against each other. Regardless of their religious beliefs or outlook on life, citizens must be able to unite around their universal rights and freedoms and to oppose those who violate these rights through democratic means."

"Expressing oneself against oppression is a democratic right, a civic duty, and a religious obligation for believers. The Quran states that people should not remain silent in the face of injustice: “O you who have believed, be upholders of justice and bear witness to the truth for Allah, even against yourselves, your parents, and your relatives” (4:135). Exercising one's fundamental freedoms, especially the freedom to live and express oneself according to one's beliefs or outlook, provided that it does not harm others, constitutes a true human being. Freedom is a right bestowed upon humanity by God, and no one can take it away. A person deprived of their freedom is not living a truly human life. Contrary to the claims of political Islamists, Islam is not a form of government or an ideology related to governance; it is a religion. It may preach certain principles related to governance, but these principles constitute a very small percentage of the totality of its preached principles. Reducing Islam to a political ideology is a great crime against the spirit of Islam."

"Those who study or comment on Islam's view of politics and government have made three errors. First, they have often confused the Islam revealed by the Book and Sunnah with the understanding of Islam that emerged from the historical experiences of Muslims. It is important to critically examine the historical experiences of Muslims and the rulings established within the context of those experiences, to draw on primary sources, and to offer new perspectives to Muslims worldwide on issues such as human rights, democracy, and social inclusion in Islam. The second mistake is to seek legitimacy for a predetermined understanding, sometimes relying on a Quranic interpretation or a few select hadiths, and to attempt to impose this understanding on others."

"The spirit of the Quran, and so to speak, the philosophy of the biography, can only be grasped through a holistic perspective and with the sincere intention of seeking God's will. The third mistake is to claim that democracy and religion are incompatible, claiming that "Religion is based on God's sovereignty, while democracy is based on the people's vote." No believer doubts that God Almighty rules everything in a cosmological sense; however, this does not mean that our wills, inclinations, and preferences do not exist, or that God does not take them into account. The fact that sovereignty belongs to the people—God forbid—does not mean that it is taken from God and given to the people; it is the taking of a matter entrusted to the people's control by God from any despotic individual or oligarchy and entrusting it to the people."

"Furthermore, what we call "state" is the name of the system created by people who come together to protect their fundamental rights and freedoms and to ensure justice and peace. The state is not an end in itself, but a tool that helps people achieve happiness in both worlds. The extent to which the people who constitute that system embrace certain fundamental beliefs and values ​​is proportionate to the state's adherence to those beliefs and values. Therefore, the term "Islamic state" is inherently contradictory. Since there is no clergy in Islam, theocracy is alien to the spirit of Islam. The state, the result of a social contract between people, is ultimately composed of people; it cannot be "Islamic" or "holy.""

"Democracy has been implemented in many different ways around the world. The democratic ideal underlying these diverse practices—that is, the non-oppression of one group by another—is also an Islamic ideal. The basis of the concept of equal citizenship in law is to cherish every human being as a generous being created by God and to respect them as a work of art. Considering all of this, participatory democracy or a republican form of government is more compatible with the spirit of Islam than monarchy or oligarchy."

"Turkey's current government resembles more of an oligarchy than a democracy. How did it become this way?"

"By seizing control of the state, placing capitalists under tutelage, and rewarding his inner circle, President Erdoğan has led Turkey, once a promising democracy, down the wrong path. To manipulate public opinion to consolidate power, he has declared me and the Hizmet movement enemies of the state and blamed me for all the evils that have befallen the country in recent history. This is a typical example of scapegoating an individual or group."

"The witch hunt targeted all forms of dissent, especially members of the Hizmet movement, a movement dedicated to peace and tolerance. Environmental protesters, journalists, academics, Kurds, Alevis, non-Muslims, and some devout Muslim groups critical of Erdoğan's actions also suffered from this policy. People's lives were devastated by unjust dismissals, arrests, imprisonment, torture, property theft, and numerous other atrocities."

"Fleeing ongoing persecution, thousands of Hizmet volunteers have sought refuge in various countries around the world, including France. Wherever they go, their role is to integrate into society and live lawfully, contribute to solving social problems, and actively fight against the spread of radical interpretations of Islam in Europe."

"A campaign of judicial persecution continues in Turkey, based on criminalizing people for sympathizing with a person or group. The number of victims of this campaign is increasing daily. More than 150,000 citizens have been unjustly dismissed from their jobs, more than 200,000 arrested, and more than 80,000 imprisoned. Those targeted in this politically motivated persecution who attempt to leave the country are even denied this fundamental human right, recognized by the United Nations, because their passports have been revoked."

"Since its founding in 1923, the Republic of Turkey has been making slow, if unstable, progress toward democracy, despite being plagued by military coups. The current government's policies are eroding Turkey's international reputation and pushing it into the category of countries hostile to freedoms and notorious for imprisoning citizens who exercise their democratic right to criticism. Those in power appear to have exploited international diplomatic relations, mobilizing all diplomatic missions, the state's human capital, and financial resources to harass, monitor, and kidnap Hizmet movement volunteers worldwide."

"In Turkey, it has recently been observed that citizens have been very passive in conveying their democratic demands to their leaders. Concerns about economic stability may be cited as an underlying reason for this. However, if we look back from the current situation, we can see that there is also a historical reason for this."

"While democratic governance is an ideal of the Turkish Republic, no systematic effort has been made to instill democratic values ​​among the Turkish public. "Obedience to a strong leader," "obedience to the state," has always been a crucial element in the educational curriculum. Military coups, occurring almost every decade, have denied democracy the opportunity to develop and take root. Citizens have forgotten, or have been made to forget, that the state exists for the people, not the other way around. It's safe to say that President Erdoğan has capitalized on this social psychology."

"Turkey's democracy may be in a coma due to the current regime, but I remain hopeful. Oppression has never been long-lasting. I believe Turkey will one day return to the path of democracy. However, certain measures must be taken to ensure democracy takes root and endures."

"First and foremost, the education curriculum must be overhauled. Topics such as equality of citizens before the law and fundamental human rights and freedoms should be introduced to young people as early as primary school so that they can become guardians of these values ​​as they grow up. Second, a new constitution is needed that protects the fundamental human rights enshrined in the United Nations Human Rights Convention and allows neither the minority nor the majority to tyrannize over others, but rather one that embraces freedom. Civil society and a free media should also be protected in the constitution as counterweights to government abuses of power. Third, opinion leaders must emphasize democratic values ​​through their rhetoric and actions."

"Democracy and human rights are currently suspended in Turkey. As a predominantly Muslim country, it appears to have missed a historic opportunity to achieve democracy at European Union standards."

"A society's leaders are like cream on a liquid. The essence of liquid is the essence of cream. The cream of milk comes from milk, the cream of yogurt from yogurt, and the cream of alum from alum. The leaders of a society, while perhaps not always with 100% accuracy, reflect the beliefs and values ​​of that society as a whole. I hope and pray that the recent tragic events in Muslim-majority countries will lead to a collective awakening and lead to democratically minded leaders and governments that defend both free and fair elections and all fundamental human rights and freedoms."

"I learned with deep sorrow of the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, which resulted in the deaths of 49 people and the injuries of 20. I strongly condemn this heinous attack and pray that God Almighty has mercy on the innocent victims, grants patience to their families, and grants a speedy recovery to the injured."

"This heinous attack, which occurred during Friday prayers, a holy day considered a weekly holiday for Muslims, unfortunately added another to the string of terrorist attacks targeting mosques, churches, synagogues, and other places of worship around the world in recent months. The underlying psychology of prejudice, fear, and hatred, which manifests itself in various forms such as Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Christianity, xenophobia, and other forms, is a human problem. Regardless of the understanding or belief behind which it is perpetrated, terrorism is, in fact, brutality, and the solution lies in the collective efforts of humanity."

"The most important pillar of any effort to address a solution is to remember and internalize our shared identity as humans. The cure for the disease of people driven by fear and hatred, who attack those they perceive as different, lies in establishing a global understanding of the value of all people through dialogue and education."

"On this tragic occasion, I offer my condolences to all Muslims worldwide and to the people of New Zealand who lost their citizens. May God help and assist all those who sincerely fight terrorism, including government officials and civil society organizations, and all those who strive to spread love and brotherhood among people."

"The Muslim holy month of Ramadan will be different this year. Around the world, mosques will be closed, when they would normally have worshipers spilling out onto the street. Extended families will remain apart, when they would typically gather for Iftar to break the fast and share homemade treats. And shopping malls, cafes and streets will be eerily quiet, when they would normally come alive after dark."

"Ramadan still began on Thursday evening, though, and in the early hours on Friday morning, households gathered, as they have for centuries, to share a sleepy suhur — the pre-dawn meal."

"Even as the world grapples with COVID-19, the yearly rituals of Ramadan will continue. Throughout the holy month, most of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims will fast between dawn and sunset, spend time in Quranic recitation, self-reflection and prayer in an effort to become closer to God, and give thanks for our blessings. But this year, the prescribed exceptions from fasting for young children, travelers, pregnant mothers and anyone who is sick will now be extended to those feeling symptoms of COVID-19."

"And this year, our prayers will include special emphasis on the health care workers, emergency workers and other essential employees who are on the front lines of the fight to protect our communities. In the eyes of God, saving human lives and benefitting humanity are most noble endeavors: The Quran likens saving a life to saving the whole of humanity, and the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be God’s peace and blessings) says that the best of humans are those who benefit other humans."

"Our obligation to help and support those in need also takes on added meaning this year as our neighbors and communities face sickness, grief, economic hardship and the loneliness of self-isolation."

"Perhaps the most difficult obligation for many, though, will be forgoing the long-planned gatherings of the season, in order to comply with precautions issued by authorities. But following these measures is a duty of our citizenship and a necessity of our social responsibility to respect God’s laws in the universe. For instance, the Prophet Muhammad — whose belief and trust in God was beyond description — even advised quarantining a town in the event of an infectious disease."

"Each of us should take the extra time and space afforded by the pandemic's social distancing measures as an opportunity for further examination of our connection with God, our families and our core values. This time offers a mandatory retreat from the busy nature of our daily lives and a chance to turn toward God, deepening our faith, knowledge and practice. I hope that imams will offer reminders about these opportunities to their congregations."

"This period also forces us to rely on the internet and the technologies built upon it. Our young generations have been well-versed in these technologies ahead of their parents. Throughout history, messengers of God and those who strive for the enlightenment of humanity always used the available cultural tools and practices to spread their messages. We also must take this time to connect with our communities in new ways, including making our spiritual resources accessible to younger generations using their language and their familiar technologies."

"The challenges of responding to the pandemic and altering our lives might push some of us to seek people to blame or to criticize. As we enter Ramadan, it is paramount that we devote ourselves to helping those in need, rather than finding others to blame. Even as people, groups or nations with whom we have had past differences may be suffering, each of us must reject as inhumane the thought that anyone deserved a calamity."

"I learned with great sadness about the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region."

"I wish God's mercy to the martyrs who lost their lives in these clashes, and I wish patience and fortitude to their families and all the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan."

"I pray to the Most Merciful God for a peaceful resolution to this dispute between two neighboring countries as soon as possible."

"I have learned with deep sadness that four people lost their lives, many people were displaced from their homes and workplaces, and a large forest area was damaged due to fires that occurred in different cities of Turkey."

"I would like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to all our people, especially the relatives of those who lost their lives. In addition to the loss of life and property caused by these fires, the loss of forests, which are the lungs of our country, is a separate source of suffering for me. I hope this sad picture will prompt us all to be more sensitive about protecting the natural riches, which are a blessing from God Almighty."

"May God Almighty have mercy on those who lost their lives in this tragic incident; I hope that those whose property and property were damaged will be able to quickly compensate for their losses, and I hope that it will give strength and fortitude to the rescue teams responding to these fires. May God protect our country and all humanity from all kinds of disasters."

"I learned with deep sorrow that the 7.7 magnitude earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş shook the provinces of Hatay, Adana, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa and Osmaniye, as well as some regions of our neighbor Syria, that many of our people died and that there were people waiting to be rescued under the rubble."

"I offer my condolences to our nation, especially to the relatives of those who lost their lives."

"Disasters and calamities remind us not only to take all kinds of precautions within the framework of the reasons, but also to help each other in a spirit of unity, to lend a hand to those in need, and to pray to God Almighty to protect our country and all humanity from all kinds of disasters."

"I believe that our nation will take care of our earthquake-affected citizens who are homeless, homeless and in need of all kinds of assistance in this snow and winter, with a spirit of mobilization. I wish patience, strength and fortitude to the search and rescue teams responding to the disaster."

"I pray for mercy and forgiveness from God Almighty to those who lost their lives in this tragic incident, patience and fortitude to those who lost their relatives, speedy recovery to our injured citizens, and safe rescue of our citizens waiting to be rescued under the rubble."

"The primary bone of contention between the U.S. and Turkey is Fethullah Gülen, a shady Islamic residing in Pennsylvania whom former President Clinton once called his “friend” in a well circulated video."

"Gülen portrays himself as a moderate, but he is in fact a radical Islamist. He has publicly boasted about his “soldiers” waiting for his orders to do whatever he directs them to do. If he were in reality a moderate, he would not be in exile, nor would he excite the animus of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government."

"For those of us who have closely studied the careers of Seyed Qutb and Hasan al Bana, the founders and followers of the Muslim Brotherhood, Gülen’s words and activities are very familiar."

"Gülen’s vast global network has all the right markings to fit the description of a dangerous sleeper terror network. From Turkey’s point of view, Washington is harboring Turkey’s Osama bin Laden."

"Voices of concern about this shady character are quickly muffled by his vast network of public relations and legal professionals. He has established a false façade that he is a moderate at odds with Turkey’s leader."

"The forces of radical Islam derive their ideology from radical clerics like Gülen, who is running a scam. We should not provide him safe haven. In this crisis, it is imperative that we remember who our real friends are."

"I agonize over the suffering that the North Korean people must be experiencing. Every time I'm having a meal and I leave some food, I think about how much this food could do for suffering North Korean children. I really do want to do more to help them, but again, with such negative public opinion in this country, it is very difficult to go ahead with assistance."

"I am confident in my dealings with the heads. I believe that I have won their trust because, I have asked them for nothing. Unlike past presidents, I did not force them to give me money or political funds. Not a single cent. And, I have not shown favoritism to any particular chaebol. They know that I am fair."

"I believe democracy is the foundation of a healthy economy. Without genuine democracy you cannot have a genuine market economy. And, under the market economy, one must fully open doors to allow free trade and investment."

"Many of the leaders of Asian society have been saying that military dictatorship was the way and democracy was not good for their nation. They concentrated only on economic development. I believe that the fundamental cause of the financial crisis, including here in Korea, is because of placing economic development ahead of democracy."

"If parents can tell their kids, `Look at Kim Dae Jung: Live upright, put your effort into a good cause and you will be successful,' then I think my life would be very meaningful"

"If we had true democracy in Korea, then the collusive intimacy between business and government and corruption would not have been as great here. And the wealth would not have been allocated to only a few people. Usually the dictatorship or authoritarian style of government lies to people."

"So when the U.N. made a resolution and asked us to send troops to East Timor, we took this as a responsibility that we must take, and also this was to repay them for their favors. As for the secretary-general's statement that when there is a conflict between human rights and the sovereign right, that sometimes the human rights can override the sovereign right, I think in principle that is right, because before we had nations, we had God-given human rights."

"For human rights issues, I think the intervention or support from the outside world is important. But also the effort and sacrifice, or willingness to make sacrifices within, among the people of a nation is important. The Korean democracy -- we had a few decades of sacrifices and tens of people lost their lives because of this concept and hundreds of people were imprisoned because of this concept and we finally gained it. And also the support from the democratic-minded peoples and democratic countries was very important. Of course the prime example of that nation is the United States."

"Eventually, North Korea will come out for dialogue. Even though we may hold dialogue at the end, if the provocations are prolonged, then the compensation that we have to give North Korea will become bigger."

"In an era of a global economy, we can't survive without foreign investment. We must change our attitude toward foreign investment. We should welcome it."

"In China and Korea, feudalism was brought down and replaced with counties and prefectures before the birth of Christ, and civil service exams to recruit government officials are a thousand years-old. The exercise of power by the king and high officials were monitored by robust systems of auditing. In sum, Asia was rich in the intellectual and institutional traditions that would provide fertile grounds for democracy. What Asia did not have was the organizations of representative democracy. The genius of the west was to create the organizations, a remarkable accomplishment that has greatly advanced the history of humankind."

"Dr Kim Dae-Jung, the one unmistakably great political leader with whom I have had the privilege to talk at length, to whom his country owes far more than it has yet begun to realize, by his singular courage."

"Once elected president in 1998, Kim chose reconciliation over revenge — even inviting his persecutors from the previous military governments to the Blue House, where he sought and welcomed their counsel during his presidency. Kim Dae Jung showed[,] that true leadership lies in compassion, not [in] coercion."

"Students, we came too late. We are sorry. You talk about us, criticize us, it is all necessary. The reason that I came here is not to ask for your forgiveness. What I want to say is that you are all getting weak, it has been seven days since you went on a hunger strike, you can't continue like this. As time goes on, your body will be damaged beyond repair, it could be very life-threatening. Now the most important thing is to end this strike. I know, your hunger strike is to hope that the Party and the government will give you a satisfying answer. I feel that our communication is open. Some of these problems can only be solved through certain procedures. For example, you have mentioned about the nature of the incident, the question of responsibility; I feel that those problems can be resolved eventually, we can reach a mutual agreement in the end. However, you should also know that the situation is very complicated, it is going to be a long process. You can't continue the hunger strike longer than seven days, and still insist on receiving a satisfying answer before ending the hunger strike."

"Developments in Afghanistan, Angola and Central America in 1988–9 were each regionally highly significant. In combination, these developments contributed greatly to a reduction in international tension. At the same time, they had far less of an impact on global attention than developments in the heartlands of the Communist bloc. These developments revealed two different tendencies. The brutal suppression in 1989 of pressure in China for political liberalisation, notably with the massacre of student protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in April (but not only there), was central to the maintenance of a Communist bloc in East Asia. The decision to act followed tension within the leadership, with Zhao Ziyang, the General Secretary of the Party, being sympathetic to the protesters, whereas the Premier, Li Peng, wanted to use force against them. Ultimately, Deng Xiaoping backed Li. The People’s Daily referred to the pro-democracy movement as an ‘anti-Party and anti-Socialist upheaval’. It was seen as a challenge to the position and legitimacy of the Party leadership."

"We fear Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city."

"At the time (1980s) Beijing was worried that people would all leave. To win their hearts, it (promised to allow) Hong Kong people to rule Hong Kong and to have a high degree of autonomy."

"The Communist Party is fully in charge and they give however much freedom they want to give and can take it away any time they like…"

"An apple a day keep the lies away."

"When I escaped from China and came to Hong Kong, the contrast was that China was like hell and Hong Kong, like heaven. Though I was very poor, I smelled the air of freedom and was full of hope for the future. That’s the way I thought heaven is."

"If I really treated business like a businessman, I wouldn’t have done what I have done — opposing China. No businessman in their right mind would do this, because you know that there will be repercussions."

"The intention of the Chinese government taking away our freedom is so obvious that we know, if we don't fight, we will lose everything...When you lose the freedom, you lose everything. What do you have?"

"I don't regret my support for the protest movement. I came here empty-handed, and I owe everything I've got to the freedom of Hong Kong. Maybe it's time for me to give it back... I think there's more to life than money."

"I don't want to leave Hong Kong, the only thing we can do is persist, not to lose spirit or hope. And to think that what is right will eventually prevail."

"I am not leaving Hong Kong, I will stay and fight until the last day, whether or not I am a prime target of Beijing's use of national security laws to suppress, it does not matter. Everyone in Hong Kong, especially those working in the media, is worried because anything we say or publish publicly could be used by the government as evidence of subversion or incitement to disorder."

"We are not seeking revolution. We just want democracy!"

"Under the chilling effects generated by Beijing and Hong Kong governments, we are strongly aware how they arrest activists no matter whether they behave progressively or moderately...All we ask for is just to urge Beijing and Hong Kong governments to withdraw the bill, stop police brutality and respond to our calls for a free election."

"I hope one day not only Hong Kong people, but also people in mainland China, can enjoy freedom and democracy."

"We’re moving from a semi-democratic to a semi-authoritarian system and the central government wants to limit our freedoms."

"I only said that independence was one theoretical option for Hong Kong if the party collapses, alongside a federal state or an EU-style confederation."

"People in Hong Kong still believe in democracy – the big question after the Umbrella Movement is how we can achieve it."

"If the struggle for democracy is a long battle, what is a few months or years in prison if I can gain more resilience for the future."

"There will be darker times ahead for Hong Kong, but the sun will rise again. We need to keep strong."

"Since 1997, I think the human rights situation in Hong Kong has been regressing slowly. It could be that in China, the situation has been improving slowly, and when both sides eventually meet, they can move forward together. My hope is that the regression in Hong Kong will be a little slower, and the improvement in China a little faster, so that both sides meet at a higher point."

"My trust towards China was both built up and broken down by Deng Xiaoping. There was hope due to his economic reforms, but the 4 June massacre killed all that."

"The ban against me isn’t personal, it’s targeting an entire generation."

"For the past decade, we have protested peacefully...but the government did not lend their ears to our views."

"坦白說，我從不否定中國的經濟發展，但一個如此強大的國家，要將爭取民主的人送入監牢、限制出入境自由，還要求以進入中國大陸參觀愛國展覽作為取回護照的交換條件，這何嘗不是一種脆弱呢。"

"這數年切身感受到，免於恐懼的自由，是多麼可貴的東西。"

"What has made this whole process so special is that above all - especially in terms of the pace of change – it has been determined by the creative and spontaneous activity of the broad mass of the people, with the communists in the vanguard. In this spirit and in accord with the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, people have acted without the slightest manipulation and without being given commands from above. The role of the party is to recognize people’s understanding, to raise it to a higher plane, to support progressive thinking and acts."

"My problem was not having a crystal ball to foresee the Russian invasion. At no point between January and August 20, in fact, did I believe that it would happen."

"With the wall breached, everything was possible. On November 10th, Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria's ruler since 1954, announced that he was stepping down; soon the Bulgarian Communist Party was negotiating with the opposition and promising free elections. On November 17th, demonstrations broke out in Prague and quickly spread throughout Czechoslovakia. Within weeks, a coalition government had ousted the communists, and by the end of the year Alexander Dubcek, who had presided over the 1968 "Prague spring," was installed as chairman of the national assembly, reporting to the new president of Czechoslovakia—Václav Havel."

"Dubcek, the bureaucrat with a pleasant smile, was a confusing blend of contradictions. He spent his entire career as the cog in a totalitarian machine and then, when he emerged on top, declared himself a democrat. He was a pragmatist and a dreamer. He could be a skilled maneuverer in the baroque labyrinth of communist politics. But in the end even he admitted that he could be incredibly naïve."

"DIRE. That’s the word the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan uses to describe the state of human rights in our country. Its annual report, released last week, makes for a distressing read, particularly in the midst of a pandemic. One wonders, given how widespread rights violations are, when this brutalised body politic will reach its breaking point. [...] The HRCP’s report reminds us that the state's fear of its citizenry is rooted in a deeper knowledge of systemic fissures in our country."

"Such are the times, that the mere presentation of a report can be a political act. The HRCP has organised its report by province and administrative unit in a nod to the threats faced by the devolution process. After all, those closest, and so most accountable, to the people are best positioned to protect their rights."

"The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said more than once that I am a free person. Did I do anything wrong by leaving my home? If other people helped me leave ... this is something that should be praised. Why then when I leave do they break into my home to beat people, detain them."

"China will see democracy, I’m one hundred per cent sure – it just needs time. If everyone makes an effort to build a more just and civil society then it will come faster and if everyone stands by and does nothing, then it will come slower but is still inevitable. Whether the authorities wish it to or not, the dawn comes and the day breaks just the same."

"When I spoke out against China's 'one child' policy and other injustices, I was persecuted, beaten, and put under house arrest by the government...In April, 2012, I escaped and was given shelter in the American embassy in Beijing. I am forever grateful to the American people for welcoming me and my family to the United States where we are now free."

"So much is now lost in the city I love: the freedom to tell the truth."

"We don't even know if our next protest, next court hearing, will be followed by imprisonment."

"There’s always one message I have: Hong Kongers will never give up. We aren’t fractured. On the contrary, we’re well-equipped to face the next difficult battle."

"The Vatican lost everything, and got nothing. I cannot understand why they would do such thing. I’m sure that the Pope has the good intention to gain some space, some breathing space, and maybe one day you can get something better. Okay. But Parolin, the Secretary of State, he knows very well who the Communists are: there’s no way to bargain with the Communists, you get nothing."

"It is a right and a duty to fight for one's life and for one's faith. So, I think we have to be careful because our fundamental attitude is surely always one of trust, harmony and dialogue, but sometimes, we have to pray for the conversion of our enemies. But we cannot trust them because there is no foundation for any trust. If we trust them, then we put ourselves in danger ― put our faith in danger."

"My last act of protest will be to do just that, to now disappear with everyone knowing why. I put this in my last will and testament — that my bones shall not be placed in the cathedral, I do not want to be buried with such men. I will be buried in a simple cemetery with what remains of the faithful people of God."

"As an intellectual I have the responsibility to be part of this movement and I think that it is my fate or destiny to be part of these activities. Overall, the main reason why I engaged in these activities was because I learned to be angry at the North Korean system."

"After reunification, after the North Korean regime collapses, the North Korean people will come and see this affluence and they're going to ask you, “What did you do when we were suffering back in North Korea?” What kind of answer should we give to them?"

"We don’t persist because we see hope. We only see hope when we persist. Before we succeed, we are not failing. It’s just that we are not there yet."

"We should not suppress our feelings of sadness during our activism. Being upfront with these emotions shows our humanity and gives validation to others feeling the same way."

"We have one million reasons to give up. But we only need one to continue the fight; that is, we know that what we’re doing is right."

"We’re asking for universal suffrage, we’re asking for democracy, we’re asking for freedoms. I ask myself every day if I’m doing enough, so that I won’t feel guilty about the fact that I get to enjoy these freedoms and privileges when my friends and my colleagues cannot. And have I been utilising every moment that I have freely? Do I take breaks responsibly? Do I work hard enough? Do I spend time for myself? And so on. These are all very important questions that you have to ask yourself when everything is going wrong."

"If we say something wrong, then we will be put behind bars. But Hong Kongers never yield. Although they’re not under siege right now because of the pandemic, their mindset about we have to fight the fight for freedom has never actually gone away. They’re still very much aware of the fact that we are still in the middle of the fight, although we seem to be losing and we are not giving up."

"I really love the city and would always love to go home. I do fear coming home and do not feel safe coming back. It’s just not the same place that I grew up in."

"The motivation for me as an activist is the belief that no one is subordinate to another. The government is merely an agent of the people. We lend authority to it, and when it performs badly, we reserve the right to take it back."

"I don’t want to put it that way but I will. If Google or other technology companies comply with this national security law, it is actually helping indirectly the Hong Kong government, Chinese government, to oppress or crack down on the civil society."

"The Hong Kong government continues to spout phrases like ‘law-abiding’ and ‘rule of law,’ but the law now serves to uphold the regime rather than protects and safeguards Hong Kongers’ basic rights and freedoms."

"Making use of common law procedures and the veneer of an independent judiciary, the NSL has successfully infiltrated and taken over Hong Kong's legal system, providing law enforcement and prosecutors with unchecked power and legitimacy."

"It's unclear how the crime of 'failure to report' under Article 23 will be enforced, but it's definitely putting pressure on us, hoping we'll retreat in the face of difficulty."

"You never know how they will try to find out where you live."

"But when I saw they were offering bounties on the wanted list, my first reaction was to think why aren't I on the list? Haven't I been doing enough?"

"There are more than 100 reasons to give up."

"Without press freedom, society would be a really bad place, because there would be no one to hold the government to account."

"The press is society’s fourth estate and has the unparalleled role of informing the public."

"In Hong Kong, in order to be able to have discussions at all, we need a free press first. Unfortunately, that is currently not the case."

"There are many activists who fight for different political goals. But no one thought about the future of digital rights."

"Personally, I am against deeper integration with Russia because Belarus is a sovereign nation. We want to be independent. We want to find friends and not enemies among other countries."

"I know that people have chosen me, that I'm a national leader. I'm a national elected president and I'm here with them."

"We will need a President who is experienced in economics, in politics, in strategy. I am not supposed to say this, but that’s clearly not me. We have people in Belarus, including among the political prisoners, who deserve to be in this position. People will make their choice. And then, even if things don’t go as we want them to, we will all share the responsibility, because this will have been the people’s choice."

"I know that Belarusians woke up. Belarusians—we will never return to the state of slaves, as we had been living for 27 years. I don’t hope—I’m sure, that Belarus will be a success story. We will win [against] autocracy. We will bring our country to democratic changes. I take this belief from the Belarusian people, from those who are behind the bars. I take this belief from democratic countries that are standing with Belarusians at this difficult moment. Together, with the free world, we will be able to bring our country, our wonderful Belarus to these changes as well."

"I call on the USA to be with us. It’s very important when a regime is destroying everything in Belarus, destroying mass media, destroying all the organizations, it’s extremely important to support all those people."

"I think that people have put too much responsibility on me. People are forgetting that a year ago I was just a mother, not at all involved in politics. I have had to study a lot and I’m trying to do what I can, where I am … But the responsibility isn’t just on me, it’s on all Belarusians."

"I’m here on this place by fate. I’m here only because I believed Belarusians that they want changes, and people believed in me. Now, and I’m doing what I can. You know, I can’t call myself the leader of the revolution because it’s everybody who is doing something is already a leader, because it’s impossible, you know, to organize everybody. People are self-organized. You’re right, I’m not going to participate in new elections. It’s not my aim. And I talked about this to Belarusians in the presidential campaign. My mandate is only to be with Belarusians till we bring our country to new elections."

"But I understand I have no right to give up, because people who are in jail didn't give up. They now are suffering for us. Only these people, the families of those repressed in Belarus, have given me the energy to go on."

"Democracy is about participation in the first place. And with participation comes responsibility for decisions and actions."

"Mongolia is a country that is capable of fixing past mistakes. It is an open country, and we need investments if we want to avoid capital shortages, currency depreciation and inflation. Improving the legal environment in order to attract investments again and regain the confidence of investors is therefore one of the priorities for my administration."

"I made a very historic decision. Every month, we will give cash to our athletes for their lifetime if they get medals in the Olympic games."

"Of course, when you are in office, you have certain responsibilities. But when you are out of office, you also have more freedom to express your ideas."

"The only way to bring peace and stability is through a system of [norms], laws and institutions that every country agrees to abide by. If the UN fails to adopt [such a system], we all fail. When we face global challenges, we must admit one thing: no one country – big or small – can address them on its own. Therefore, the coordinated actions of all players and countries are needed."

"We all know there are sound critiques of the UN. If our United Nations is to survive in the new reality, we must embrace substantive change. We need reforms to build a just common home. If we delay action, change will become more painful and challenging."

"We have two big neighbors, and, of course, we are really striving to maintain neighborly good relations with our two neighbors. As well, we want to have good relations with other nations. All those other nations we call our third neighbor. This is the concept after 1990."

"We never hide our shadow, we give more power to our people, to our media. If our three million people participate, I think we are going to be a big, powerful country."

"The values connection is very important. We have to strengthen that connection. If America invests in that, America will have many friends who live on their own, not with bombs or American troops."

"We have a long-term goal to build the foundation for continued, practical cooperation by continuously holding official and unofficial meetings based on the principle of respecting the rights and proposals of the participants."

"No dictatorship can stay (in power) for good... People's aspirations for a free life will be the everlasting strength."

"We arrived from being the most isolated and closed communist regime in the world to one of the most open. Today we have a dynamic market economy, a vibrant, creative society."

"We should never take democracy for granted. Neither should we worship it. It must be nurtured and strengthened on a daily basis. It is our way of living, our state of mind. A democratic society is sustainable because it aims at the highest development of every one of its members."

"Therefore, our common goal as leaders is to provide for an environment where the democratic institutions can thrive – provide for rule of law, human rights, democratic governance, and free and fair elections. And we must enforce accountability, accountability, and again, accountability. The people will do the rest in a democracy. For only in a democracy is everyone provided with opportunities for self-development and realization."

"People who live in totalitarian countries experience educational brainwashing and real fear of the government. They are not brave enough to stand out and express different opinions."

"I kept on reading, observing and reflecting on China’s political and social problems. Then in that year I suddenly felt a strong need to express my ideas. Comics is what I am good at, so I began to create political comics."

"I felt a narrowing of freedom of speech. The change was very pronounced when you compare Xi Jinping to previous eras of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao."

"This fear of the power of the totalitarian state is something normal people cannot understand."

"As a first-generation immigrant, I want to make the soil richer. My kid will grow up in a free world without fear and will be thinking like an ordinary American. I envy him very much."

""I was born in 1989, and my father, being a democracy activist, he was paying a lot of attention to what was going on in Tiananmen, in Beijing, at that time, so after the massacre, he named me Ti-Anna to commemorate the victims ... and also to celebrate the ideals of freedom and democracy. He really wanted to remember their courage."

"The conversations about human rights in China, they can be a little numbingly familiar after you talk about it."

"The values of freedom and democracy upon which America was founded are the same values that once inspired my father and are the ones to which he remains dedicated. Those values are not just every American’s birthright; they are the fundamental rights of all human beings."

"The truth is, the lives of activists are much more complicated than what the novel presented. My father was not a regular man nor a regular father. He gave himself to his cause, and our relationship was forged by distance. There is no resentment. The world needs people like my father."

"In a country without meaningful rule of law, my family has no means appeal my father's conviction, despite having secured exonerating evidence for the charges against him. The lawyers we've retained on his behalf are routinely intimidated by authorities, obstructed from visiting him and threatened with disbarment. Because of my outspokenness, the Chinese government repeatedly refuses my visa applications. Consequently I have been unable to visit him for the past seven years."

"My life plan from early childhood included everything, depending on the books I read and movies I watched, but political activity. Furthermore, it was clear to me that there was no political future for Crimean Tatars under Soviet rule. Under the Soviets, political activity meant zealous service to the Communist Party and unequivocal approval and praise of everything that was happening in the country. This was simply not compatible with my religious identity and national dignity."

"Everybody understands that in order to liberate Crimea and restore trust in the international law peacefully, one has to implement effective economic sanctions, which would compel the aggressor state to return the occupied territories and operate within the framework of the existing international order."

"Russia has once again demonstrated that not a single memorandum or agreement signed with it guarantees security and territorial integrity. Since Ukraine is not likely to have military capabilities equal to Russia’s, due to the difference in the size of the country, human and natural resources, Ukraine will have to join NATO or any other regional defense alliance of collective security. Ukraine’s relations with Russia may only be settled after Russia withdraws from the occupied territories and compensates for the damages caused to Ukraine. However, under the current regime in the Kremlin it is highly unlikely that the situation will change."

"Until the occupation of our land is over, we cannot make any deals."

"The occupation of Crimea must prove to be increasingly costly for Russia. There is a notion that Crimea won’t be de-occupied while Putin is in power because that would signal his political death. But, if the sanctions for international damage are powerful enough, then it is quite possible that Crimea will be freed even under Putin."

"First of all, we do not trade with our loyalty expecting whose bid will be higher. We have decided a long time ago. To say the least, we don’t have a great deal of trust in Russians."

"If you have hurt even a single innocent person, even if you remain independent, that struggle for independence will never be considered a victory."

"The main merit of the Crimean Tatar national movement is that we avoided bloodshed in our struggle. We have shown that putting human life first, talking about one's rights and the rights of others, one can get out of difficult situations without blood."

"I knew from an early age that we had been vilely evicted from the Crimea, and that the Soviet government was bad."

"If a person is to think about the future of his own children, he must first have a homeland. If he does not have a homeland, that nation will not have a perspective. This is the first reason, but apart from that, our fathers and grandfathers always talked about Crimea. Even though we did not see it, we always knew that the Crimean Peninsula was our homeland and that we would return there eventually. That's why our national movement was one of the strongest movements in the Soviet Union."

"Human rights are shared by all people of the world and if some people still suffer without them, then nobody has them at all. Particularly in China, which is such an influential country and such a world power today. If there's a problem and human rights don't develop in China, there could be serious issues that develop in China that will effect the whole world."

"When I was living in China, people don't have anything to eat. There's people living in such poverty that it's impossible not to develop human rights in China. When I was in China many years ago, I saw many people starving to death. I saw people standing at train stations, not wearing any clothes, begging for money. Seeing people who had such terrible lives made a real impression on me—it was simple. At that time, I decided my life's present course, supporting human rights."

"I have waited decades for this chance to exercise my right to free speech, but the Chinese people have been waiting for centuries."

"I consider my release to be only a small victory for human rights and democracy."

"For human beings, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome. Rely on yourself, and you can overcome anything."

"If there were normal relationships between the two partners, there would be no problem. But China is a dysfunctional country. Consequently, I am not happy with the attitude of Western European countries that have moved away from the issue of human rights in exchange for trade, especially in the last 10 years."

"My overall impression is that politicians really like to change their positions and really like to forget about some things. But ordinary people have better memories. As we Chinese people say, ordinary people have conscience, unlike politicians. I think that every nation has a conscience. And good writers express it very well, and those who express the conscience of the nation in their work, those are exceptional writers. I’ve noticed that in every country people don’t like politicians. When people talk about me as a politician, I object immediately, I just say I write books."

"Many Western experts are beginning to think about a dictatorial system being more efficient and functional than democracy, and economic performance in such systems being better than in Western democracies. This strange trend began about 10 years ago, and today many academics and politicians in the West are talking about the retreat of democracy on a global scale. And I say to them that the global retreat of democracy is not a reality but an ideology. This says something about the intellectual degradation of these Western scholars. It’s the result of a simple fact: they get money from people who have made lots of money in China thanks to the regime in place there. Then, these businesspeople pay entities who spread these ideas."

"When I talk with American politicians, and they ask me if they should begin talking about human rights again, I reply: if you want to talk then do it, I don’t care. What I care about is how to force China into changing its stance towards the law. If you use a trade war to force the Chinese Communist regime to observe its own laws, naturally you will also protect human rights as well. The law protects the rights of every individual. If we are going to talk only about human rights, and we aren’t going to talk about rule of law, ordinary Chinese people will have the feeling that you’re talking about something irrelevant to them. If you talk about establishing a system based on the rule of law, Chinese people will understand immediately. Only when true rule of law has been established throughout society will the rights of every person be taken into account, and that is something that an ordinary Chinese person will understand."

"People in Hong Kong learned their lesson from the protests in Beijing in 1989 and understand that they cannot expect any help or the Communist Party to play a positive role, that they must rely only on themselves and must be prepared to sacrifice everything to achieve their objective of maintaining the rule of law so that the rights of all individuals are protected."

"The most important thing I learned from my parents is how to conduct myself. Maybe this expression does not exist in English. Chinese are very focused on this "conduct" concept, or what you call "creating oneself," according to Western thought. This is very important. My parents taught me that in order to conduct oneself well, the most important thing is to be responsible toward your friends. If you are not responsible, then you should not make friends. My mother's motto was that the people's interests are more important than anything else. Even if you have great friends, you should not put your friends' interests above the people's or betray people."

"I wasn't an especially rebellious child, but I can say I gave my parents a lot of trouble at times. Because I had a lot of guts and was always taking risks, I either got hurt or sometimes broke other people's things and caused problems. I always sparked a lot of trouble."

"If you really want to write well, the most important thing is allowing people to believe you. If you want people to believe you, you have to say things exactly the way you think them. You shouldn't deceive people. This is the only way you can gain people's trust. But, I think the hardest thing in the world is to be able to tell the truth. In China, if you tell the truth, you can go to prison. In America, while you won't necessarily go to prison for telling the truth, you might sometimes lose your job. The situation is just as difficult."

"The biggest problem facing China's democracy movement is how to unite people in order to form an official opposition party. This is the only way we will be strong. If everyone cannot unite into an official opposition party, instead just proclaiming a bunch of empty, meaningless declarations, there's no purpose. The majority of Chinese already understand why we need democracy. In terms of protests, every year there are still thousands of struggles and demonstrations. So, the most crucial task is to get all the activists and demonstrators united into one common effort, because this is the only way we'll succeed."

"Actually, Chinese demands for democracy didn't begin just yesterday. Chinese started demanding democracy almost a hundred years ago. Democratic thought influenced a lot of Chinese. Slowly, it's become popular and now, everyone wants democracy. So it's been a gradual process. However, I was different from previous democracy activists in one sense: since the 1950s, they were asking for democracy under communism. Yet, I feel that, if we're already under communist rule, where is the democracy? So this is where I mainly differed with them."

"If you want to speak the truth, you will definitely pay a price. It's the same everywhere, but speaking out under communism comes with an especially heavy price. Many people have tried to speak out in China, and the price they've paid is even greater than I -- they lost their lives."

"I think there are few opportunities for one person to really influence history. The opportunity is very rare. I think that even if you become a president, you won't necessarily be able to change history. But if you give people a new, important way of thinking, this thought itself can change the world. And if you want people to heed your thought and believe in it, you should practice it yourself. Also your character, personality, and ability are central to people's belief and trust. A liar will never win anyone's trust."

"People seem to have a lot of demands of leaders, but realistically, most leaders cannot accomplish all the demands. But I think each leader should examine the conditions of each request. Under certain conditions, a good leader may not act as well as under other circumstances. This may not be the same in each case, however."

"Well, the most important part of my survival was believing in myself. No matter what you're doing, if you believe in yourself, then each hardship won't seem so major. People who doubt themselves or are unsure of themselves will be easily defeated by other people."

"No one is an exception. But at some point, you have to make a choice. Sometimes you have to choose either to live, but not like a person, without value or bones, like a traitor, cheating one's friends. But what meaning is there in that kind of life? Sometimes you have to make the choice: I would rather die than cheat my friends or live without meaning. People sometimes need to make this kind of choice."

"What the communists fear most is the Chinese people's understanding where their interests are and where their power lies. Once the people understand this and unite, the government won't be able to oppress them."

"In ancient China, there were such maxims as "A cake in the picture can appease hunger" and "Watching the plums can quench the thirst." These witty and ironic remarks were quite popular in ancient times, but today, after a long and continuous development of history, people should never take such stupid remarks seriously. Yet some people not only believe in them but also carry them out in practice."

"People should have democracy. When they ask for democracy, they are only demanding what is rightfully theirs. Anyone refusing to give it to them is a shameless bandit no better than a capitalist who robs workers of their money earned with their sweat and blood. Do the people have democracy now? No. Do they want to be masters of their own destiny? Definitely yes. This was the reason for the Communist Party's victory over Kuomintang. But what then happened to the promise of democracy? The slogan "people's democratic dictatorship" was replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat.""

"What road is this? It is called the "socialist road." According to the definition of the Marxist ancestors, socialism means that the people, or the proletariat, are their own masters. Let me ask the Chinese workers and peasants: With the meager wages you get every month, whose master and what kind of master can you be? Sad to relate, you are "mastered" by somebody else when in the matter of matrimony. Socialism guarantees the producers' rights to the surplus production from their labor over what is needed as a service to the society. But this service is limitless. So are you not getting only that miserable little wage "necessary for maintaining the labor force for production?" Socialism guarantees many rights, such as the right of a citizen to receive educations, to use this ability to the best advantage, and so forth. But none of these rights can be seen in our daily life. What we can see is only "the dictatorship of the proletariat" and "a variation of Russian autocracy" - Chinese socialist autocracy. Is this kind of socialist road what people want? Can it be claimed that autocracy means the people's happiness. Is this the socialist road depicted by Marx and hoped for by the people? Obviously not. Then what is it? Funny as it may sound, it is like the feudal socialism mentioned in the "Manifesto," or a feudal monarchy disguised as socialism."

"People have tightened their belts for decades since liberation. They have worked as hard as they could and actually produced much wealth. But where has all the wealth gone? Some say that it has gone to fatten some comparatively small autocratic regimes like Vietnam."

"What is democracy? True democracy means the holding of power by the laboring masses. Are laborers unqualified to hold power? Yugoslavia has taken this road and proved to us that even without dictatorial rulers, big or small, the people can work even better."

"What is true democracy? It means the right of the people to choose their own representatives to work according to their will and in their interests. Only this can be called democracy. Furthermore, the people must also have the power to replace their representatives anytime so that these representatives cannot go on deceiving theirs in the name of the people. This is the kind of democracy enjoyed by people in European and American countries. In accordance with their will, they could run such people as Nixon, de Gaulle, and Tanaka out of office. They can reinstate them if they want, and nobody can interfere with their democratic rights. In China, however, if a person even comments on the already dead Great Helmsman Mao Zedong or the Great Man without peers in history, jail will be ready for him with open door and various unpredictable calamities may befall him. What a vast different will it be if we compare the socialist system of centralized democracy with the system of capitalist "exploiting class!""

"Let me call on our comrades: Rally under the banner of democracy and do not trust the autocrats' talk about "stability and unity." Fascist totalitarianism can only bring us disaster. l have no more illusion. Democracy is our only hope. Abandon our democratic rights and we will be shackled once again. Let us believe in our own strength! Human history was created by us. Let all self-styled leaders and teachers go. They have for decades cheated the people of their most valuable possession. I firmly believe that production will be faster under the people's own management. Because the laborers will produce for their own benefit, their living conditions will be better. Society will thus be more rational, because under democracy all social authority is exercised by the people with a view to improving their livelihood."

"Why must human history take the road toward prosperity and modernization? The reason is that people need prosperity so that real goods are available, and so that there is a full opportunity to pursue their first goal of happiness, namely freedom. Democracy means the maximum attainable freedom so far known by human beings. It is quite obvious that democracy has become the goal in contemporary human struggles."

"However, let us look at the real history and not the history written by the hired scholars of the "socialist government." Every minute portion of democracy of real value was stained with the blood of martyrs and tyrants, and every step forward was met with strong attacks from the reactionary forces. Democracy has been able to surmount all these obstacles because it is highly valued and eagerly sought by the people. Therefore, this torrent is irresistible. Chinese people have never feared anything. As long as the people have a clear orientation, the forces of tyranny are no longer undefeatable."

"I have spent my life trying to rewrite systems of power, and policy is nothing if not a system for creating and distributing power. That is why, contrary to popular belief, the most important part of a policy proposal is not the details at least not at the beginning. It's the vision that the policy presents and the story it tells. The best policy proposals-that is, the proposals that move the most people to fight for them-present a clear narrative about what went wrong, why it went wrong, and how the government plans to fix it."

"When I asked my mom and grandma why Englewood looked like this, they told me about the government. About how the highway system had been built through Black neighborhoods, destroying communities that would never be rebuilt. About the city's housing authority razing public housing and scattering families in the name of "urban development," only for city officials to turn around and sell the prime real estate to developers on the cheap. About the city systematically underfunding Black schools and then shutting them down because of "underperformance." And that's just what happened to my neighborhood-not even what happened to my family."

"The United States is a nation of scarcity, and increasingly so. Seventy-eight percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. As of 2018, about 40 percent of Americans could not afford an unexpected $400 expense without going into debt or having to sell off their possessions. About 25 percent of Americans skipped necessary medical care because they couldn't afford it. For most people in this country, we are not a nation of prosperity."

"The ability to burn fossil fuels with no limit and no legal repercussions requires two things. First, fossil fuel industries and those who control them (or profit deeply from them) can concentrate enough wealth and political power to override the will of the people-who, by and large, want to stop climate change. Second, there are people and places that can be hurt, even killed, with little consequence."

"Fossil fuel impunity requires intense concentrations of economic and political power among corporations and the wealthy who profit from them."

"The GND resolution proposes to achieve these goals in two ways. The first is through a set of "projects" that, if completed, would nearly eliminate carbon emissions in the US. The second is through a set of policies that aim to protect Americans from the disruption and instability that transitioning away from fossil fuels will create and reduce inequity."

"The Green New Deal is a new policy vision-one that will guide government and society through the biggest task in modern history: decarbonizing our global economy within the next ten to twenty years."

"The Green New Deal is designed, first and foremost, to address the climate crisis at the speed, scale, and scope required to prevent catastrophic levels of warming."

"Only the federal government wields the power to lead a national mobilization that can decarbonize the economy fast enough."

"Every economic mobilization in American history has exploited marginalized people. The Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC)-created during the New Deal to provide loans to homeowners facing foreclosure-often labeled predominantly black neighborhoods as "high risk," which discouraged lending and encouraged redlining. Today, 74 percent of the neighborhoods labeled "high risk" are low- to middle-income neighborhoods, and 64 percent are predominantly minority-meaning that these areas are still racially and economically segregated to this day."

"Highway expansion and urban renewal programs during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s displaced hundreds of thousands of residents-mostly people of color-without adequate financial assistance, erasing decades of wealth for those who owned homes and businesses. Because of this, the thought of an economic mobilization understandably frightens millions of Americans. The Green New Deal must directly address these fears, or risk losing the public support it needs to sustain itself across a decade."

"The GND's vision of power is one of redistribution: from private to public, from employer to worker, from the historically advantaged to the historically disadvantaged."

"the climate crisis can continue unabated only with immense concentrations of economic and political power."

"The success of the Green New Deal depends on the ability to reroute power away from the 1 percent and the political and economic institutions designed to serve them. If we are going to become an economy that serves people and the planet, then the people-all of the people-need power, and we need it now."

"Given the time frame, the climate crisis-vast, existential, worsening by the day-is solvable only through an economy-wide energy transition, which requires an economic mobilization. Only a national coordinated all-out push can ramp up production of clean energy infrastructure fast enough-and ramp down emissions fast enough."

"Critics who doubt our nation's capacity to achieve a transition of the scale and speed the Green New Deal proposes should heed the lessons of the World War II mobilization: set the production targets you need to win, even if they seem impossible at the outset, and then hustle to meet those targets through massive, coordinated, strategic public investment and collaborations with private industry."

"all GND policy, whether narrow or broad, serves a triple bottom line: achieve the decarbonization goals set out by H.R. 109, reduce income inequality, and redress systemic oppression."

"GND policy works to shape markets and create demand so that low-carbon and no-carbon goods become the default, rather than the alternative to carbon-intensive goods."

"The details will keep changing as we learn how best to decarbonize equitably and mobilize the American people-our hands, our creativity, our resources-to remake our economy, while caring for one another every step of the way. But no matter what we encounter in the weeds of policy blueprints and implementation, the vision of the Green New Deal provides the compass we'll need."

"A six-thousand year-old Pashtun, a thousand-year-old Muslim and a twenty-seven year-old Pakistani."

"Every third year of his life in jail."

"We live in a very interconnected world. … We can’t build fences and close our eyes to real problems of human rights in our world."

"I don’t know what is in store for me or my family or my colleagues or my friends. But I know for sure that Ukraine will resist because we are fighting for our country, for our dignity, for our people, for our values. Russia tried to return us to the past which does not exist at all. We will never be a part of a restored Soviet Union. Putin will lose sooner or later."

"Women are currently represented in all areas of the country’s defence. Women serve in the Ukrainian army. Women have joined territorial defence units. Women take important political decisions. Women provide medical care. Women document Russian war crimes. You can see a significant number of women in every field of the social resistance to this invasion. At least in times of war, we suddenly seem to have gender equality in Ukraine. Women are currently at the forefront of the battle, equal to men."

"I see from the general mood in the country that Ukrainians share the dream to rebuild our country and our destroyed cities together. They are committed to the successful democratic transformation of our country after the war. This dream encourages all of us to continue our struggle."

"Everything the UN stands for is at stake in Ukraine. If Putin is allowed to succeed, a new world will be born, in which larger states will once again be able to invade their neighbors with impunity. A brief period in human history, when the settled sovereign will of the people served as the basis for government, will end. Neo-imperial revisionist powers will create “spheres of influence” using economic pressure, political capture, disinformation, and military coercion to turn smaller neighbors into vassals. A world that is more open, connected, and safer will give way to one that is more closed, fragmented, and violent."

"We live in very dramatic times, and political leaders of the world have to take historical responsibility because for decades, I’ve seen that political leaders behave like they believe the problems we face will vanish. But the truth is that these problems will not vanish. They have to take responsibility and to solve these problems for the next generation and not think only about the electoral period or the future of their own parties."

"We live in a very interconnected workld and only spreading freedom can make our world safer. And if political leaders will not take this historical responsibility, people can take this historical responsibility. All of my experience as a human rights defender has showed me that ordinary people have much greater impact than they can even imagine. And massive mobilization of ordinary people around the world can change the world’s history much more quickly than any UN intervention."

"The UN and its member-states should conduct international peace and security reform to create guarantees for all countries and their citizens, regardless of their participation or non-participation in military blocs or military capacity. Russia should be excluded from the UN Security Council for systematic violations of the UN charter."

"I hope that we will be able to overcome the rage, because sooner or later the war will finish, and we will have to continue building a civilized world. Maybe, in such a crisis, you go beyond some borders like nationality or region, because we are humans. We see ourselves now like people who are fighting for freedom, for human values. For us it doesn’t matter if you are Ukrainians or not. We closely cooperate with Russian human-rights defenders, with Belarusian human-rights defenders. We understand their willingness to help is because we are all human."

"The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to all people in Ukraine who are currently fighting for freedom in all its senses. For the freedom to be a free and independent state. For the freedom to develop the Ukrainian language and culture. For the freedom to have one’s own democratic choice and to build a country in which the rights of every person are protected, the government is accountable, the courts are independent, and the police do not beat peaceful student demonstrations."

"We call on the international community to become their voice and join us in seeking their release. As well as the release of all political prisoners who fought against the authoritarian regimes in Russia and Belarus."

"This story is about resistance to common evil, about the fact that freedom has no borders, and the values ​​of human rights are universal. That human rights defenders build invisible horizontal connections in their societies to assert freedom and protect people in our part of the world, in which a monster is once again trying to rule. And who will lose sooner or later. And then peace will come. In no way should this award sound like an old narrative about fraternal nations. This story is about something else. This story is about the motto that I heard from my teacher, dissident and philosopher Yevhen Sverstyuk – “For our freedom and yours”"

"This award [Nobel Peace Prize] have two dimensions. The first dimension is connecting with award to not only to Ukrainian human rights organisation, Center for Civil Liberties, but to the whole Ukrainian people who are fighting for freedom in all senses. And second dimension is award for human rights defenders who, regardless of their authoritarian regimes, tries to build horizontal ties between each other in order to protect freedom and human rights in our part of the world where Russia try to occupy new territories."

"All my twenty years experience of defense, freedom and human rights shows me that common people have a much greater impact than they can even imagine. And massive mobilisation of the common people can change the world history quicker than UN intervention."

"There are people who will fight for you, who will fight for your rights, who will never leave you alone. And this understanding provides a coverage to continue the fight. And let my lessons learn from this story is that in many part of the world, human rights defenders, they’re not working in human rights field. They’re fighting for human rights. And sometimes because of the size of challenges this fight, it seems that they have no sense. But we have to continue our fight honestly, and result will unexpectedly be achieved."

"Like sometimes I feel myself that we are documenting pain, which burned us out, but parallel, I see and feel the huge wave of solidarity among the people in Ukraine and abroad. And ordinary people start to do unordinary things. And this energy can change a lot."

"First of all, I know Ukraine’s history. We have been fighting for freedom for hundreds of years, and we will never give up. Second, I know the Ukrainian people. Putin underestimated us, and so did the West."

"My first language was Russian. I switched to the Ukrainian language in school when I started to learn Ukrainian history and Ukrainian literature. I suddenly understood that my parents spoke Russian not because it was their choice but because they had been forced into it."

"So, in this war, we are fighting for freedom in all senses: the freedom to be an independent state, not a colony of Russia; the freedom to be Ukrainians, to have our own language and culture, as other nations of the world do; the freedom to have a democratic choice — a chance to build a country where the judiciary is independent, human rights are protected, the government is accountable, and the police serve the people."

"The problem of the Russian nation is that Russians have this imperialistic code, as a driver of their existence. I wish Russians could overcome this side of their nature. It’s a necessity, if Russians are to be happy and successful."

"Justice is costly, but it is also priceless."

"We can’t end the war on our own, but nothing will change without the efforts of each individual. We will pay a high price to finally break away from the Russian civilizational space with its culture, where there is no gender equality, with its dominant violence. We need to prepare for a long marathon that we will win."

"It’s very dangerous to live in the world where your security depends not on the rule of law but on whether your country is a part of a military bloc. That’s a dangerous line of development for humankind."

""Time to take responsibility: Speech by Oleksandra Matviychuk at Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony", UkrInform, 10 December 2022"

"Talking of the so-called Russian mass media, it has been obvious to me over these years that it is part of Russia’s military and industrial complex. They work exclusively for military purposes, they incite hatred, they program people to kill, they create an image of the enemy."

"Faced with insoluble social, political, and economic crises that threatened the very existence of Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought to compensate by adopting a strict version of the Sharia as the country’s legal system.... By mid-September, Islamabad was arguing that Islamization offered the only chance of holding Pakistan together as it slid toward political and social collapse amid technical bankruptcy and increasing political assertiveness by the local Islamist parties. Relying on their powerful militias and allied Kashmiri terrorist organizations, the Islamist parties flexed political muscle Nawaz Sharif could no longer confront. By the end of the month the Pakistani government was hanging by a thread, and the crisis was exacerbated by economic disaster and a collapsing social order that brought the country to the verge of a civil war. The Islamist members of the army and ISI high command warned Nawaz Sharif that the only alternative to chaos was to implement “Talibanization”—the transformation of Pakistan from a formally secular pseudo-democracy into a declared extremist Islamic theocracy.... Sharif orchestrated a profound purge of the entire military and ISI high command, throwing out the Westernized elite and replacing them with Islamists who are ardent supporters of bellicosity toward India, active aid for the war by proxy in Kashmir, and assistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan and other Islamist jihads.... Washington cannot offer Islamabad anything that would be worth provoking a major confrontation with the Pakistani Islamists. Even if Sharif gave an order to apprehend bin Laden, his order would not be carried out by the Pakistani security services because they are riddled with, even actually controlled by, militant Islamists. For them bin Laden is a hero, not a villain. These Islamists are also the new army and ISI elite Sharif just empowered. The Pakistani security establishment knows that any cooperation with Washington will place it in a “state of war” with the local Islamist militias, the Arab “Afghans,” and the Kashmiri terrorist organizations they sponsor. With the Afghan Taliban providing safe haven to these groups, they can easily destabilize Pakistan and drag it into a fratricidal civil war the Islamists are sure to win."

"As Guardian journalist Jon Boone wrote in 2013, “Sharif tried to turn Pakistan into an Islamic caliphate ruled by sharia.”"

"As the Pakistani journalist Khaled Ahmed wrote: When ideology stiffened under the pious military ruler, General Zia, Nawaz Sharif was with him, following the lead given by him and didn’t object when the laws against blasphemy and desecration of the Quran were passed and even made more draconian. Zakat tax meant to be spent on the poor can’t be spent on non-Muslims who are counted among the poorest communities in Pakistan. Muslims who are born in Christian hospitals and study in English-medium schools funded by Christian charity don’t mind if poor Christians are not helped with Muslim charity."

"The structure of the international system, at the end of this century, is experiencing radical changes, particularly the end of the post-war bipolarity, the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the cold war. Many new peoples have gained their right to self-determination and democratic development, long repressed by totalitarian regimes."

"The dynamics of the world have changed. This creates many questions for the international community, governments, politicians and political forces. So far the answers have been few and inadequate. But life does not wait. States and people have concrete needs as well as hopes and ideals. Their natural tendency is to act in order to fulfil them, whether or not there exists an organized international framework for harmonizing divergent interests."

"But freeing international relations from ideology does not and must not necessarily lead to confrontation between civilizations. By definition, confrontation is alien to civilization."

"Civilization is characterized, rather, by tolerance and open-mindedness. Of course, this does not exclude competition between civilizations, between the values they promote, between their capacities to guarantee the free enjoyment of basic human rights and the development of initiative and the human personality."

"The extremely complex situations in various parts of the world and the contradictory currents that exist, with all their attendant risks and uncertainties for overall peace and security, demand a democratic vision of the new international order, which must be built, and abandonment of prejudices in relations between States inherited from the cold-war period. But that is not all. I believe that today we need a vision of the management of international relations in which realism and pragmatism predominate."

"The prosperity of peoples achieved through cooperation was not merely the formula of someday dreamers, but the rationale behind an international body meant to constitute an orderly space for moral and legal values to govern the manifestation of the freedom of creation of human civilization in all its diversity."

"International order based on legal norms, even if administered under the authority of the privileged club of the permanent members of the Security Council, represented the embodiment of reason and of the hope that the world would never again fall prey to the demons of hatred and destruction."

"The knowledge gap is compounded by the ubiquitous phenomenon of brain drain from the developing to the developed world. The problem is almost as old as the United Nations itself."

"Experience shows that enhanced regional cooperation can be both the engine and the result of globalization."

"Regional cooperation makes it possible to capitalize on the advantages of globalization while reducing its risks."

"A set of policies can be successful only if it relies consistently on the fundamental aspiration of ordinary people to a peaceful and decent life. The current unprecedented level of knowledge will, I am confident, enable us to find the requisite resources, both in ourselves and in society, for greater tolerance, mutual respect and constructive dialogue, as opposed to the primitive inclination to hatred and intolerance."

"The consolidation of democratic values, building an efficient and competitive market economy, strengthening the country's capacity to play its role as a security and stability provider in the region, are all aims closely interrelated with our national interest."

"Fraud involving the public purse is all the more reprehensible, and must be severely punished, in that it cannot take place other than with the involvement of politicians and public officials, i.e. those who are entrusted essentially with defending and promoting the public interest. Their dishonesty undermines trust in the State, in the country's institutions and in democracy."

"It is our duty, the duty of all of us, to help the people understand that, alongside rights and freedoms, they have legal and constitutional obligations, that it is in their interests and in the interests of society that fraudulent acts should be severely punished, and that they should not become accomplices, including as a result of passivity or non-involvement, in such anti-social behaviour."

"Transparency is nowadays an efficient weapon in stamping out corruption and fraud of any kind involving public funds."

"The global vocation and aspirations of my country are closely related to its European destiny. The focus of Romanian diplomacy is therefore oriented towards the democratic stabilization of our neighbouring region and its effective connection to a united Europe."

"Granting the Western Balkan states a clear perspective of integration into the Euro-Atlantic and European community is the most effective way to consolidate stability and security in the region and in Europe."

"Having emerged from the darkness of totalitarianism, Romania has embarked on a long and not so easy road to the recovery of memory and assumption of responsibility, in keeping with the moral and political values grounding its new status as a democratic country, a dignified member of the Euro-Atlantic community."

"A critical evaluation of the past is always necessary, so as not to forget it, but also to set with clarity the landmarks of our effort to build ourselves, as part of constructing the future of our nation."

"The recent past obligates us to create mechanisms and institutions designed to serve as the society’s antibodies against these illnesses of the spirit that are racism, antisemitism, xenophobia."

"We have a shared responsibility to ensure that the worldwide and irreversible victory of freedom and democracy doesn't remain merely a scenario. We must work together so that the actors in the story of the 21st century are able to live in prosperity and integrity, at peace with themselves and each other. Hungary is a responsible and reliable partner of the United States in this."

"For a thousand years we have held the view that the fate and future of Hungary and Europe are indivisible. The key to the survival and development of the Hungarian people in the heart of the continent, in the Carpathian Basin, can only be inseparably bound to political and economic Europe."

"The present level and quality of Hungary and American relations is the result of an ongoing process of development which has been driven by shared principles and goals, and the mutual benefit of practical cooperation. It is especially encouraging to see that our relations also extend to new areas and regions which represent preparation to face the challenges of the future."

"We live in a time of opportunities, and the United Nations is at a crossroads. Only a reformed United Nations can be a catalyst in our endeavours to create a safe and secure world, where freedom, democracy and respect for human rights flourish. We should redouble our efforts to revitalize the United Nations. To this effect, there can be no delay in restructuring and streamlining the costly bureaucracy of the United Nations system. We have to rationalize the work of the General Assembly. Enlargement of the Security Council, along with enhancement of its effectiveness, is more than necessary. Financial reform of the United Nations is a must."

"The time has come for a revitalized multilateral mentality to meet effectively and firmly the challenge of the new global and interconnected threats of resurgent nationalism and ethnic strife, international terrorism, illicit drug-trafficking, the smuggling of nuclear materials, the deliberate degradation of the global environment and poverty."

"At this important juncture of history, our task is to develop and strengthen a genuinely worldwide constituency for the United Nations. We can do this only if we make every effort to involve the young generations, whose confidence must be won through a renewed philosophy of multilateral cooperation. I am confident that for generations to come the promotion and protection of multi-ethnicity, diversity, tolerance and respect for human dignity will be the major feature what is expected of the United Nations."

"The lessons and tasks emerging from global conferences and from other areas of United Nations activity have a twofold nature. On the one hand, each of them, having its undisputed merits, appears to lend itself to universal collective action. On the other hand, taken in their totality, they require not only that we set our priorities but also a thorough efficiency probe and maybe a fuller use of the principle of subsidiarity as well."

"Globalization, integration and interdependence can and should be important driving forces towards environmentally sound sustainable development. Regrettably, in our contemporary world we see only too often patterns of disintegration and the absence of the rule of law, accompanied by flagrant violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. These constitute not only an affront to human dignity, but they have the adverse effect of hindering sustainable human development and most often bring about a fatal degradation of the environment as well."

"Despite my age, I can almost say that I have never put pen to paper without worrying about censorship. The nightmare of censorship has always cast a shadow over my thoughts. Both under the previous state and under the Islamic state, I have said again and again that, when there is an apparatus for censorship that filters all writing, an apparatus comes into being in every writer’s mind that says: “Don’t write this, they won’t allow it to be published.” But the true writer must ignore these murmurings. The true writer must write. In the end, it will be published one day, on the condition that the writer writes the truth and does not dissemble. Of course, whenever censorship is stringent, most writers resort to metaphor and figurative and symbolic language. And this can help stimulate the imagination. But taking comfort from this fact doesn’t lessen the writer’s dream of attaining freedom."

"The Shāhnāmeh is the greatest epic in history. It is a treasure trove of ideas, wisdom, advice, help, guidance, and rites. With this immense work, Ferdowsi revived the spirit of serenity, magnanimity, and pride in the Iranian nation, which had lost itself under the weight of the Arab conquest of Iran. It empowered divided Iranian peoples to unite. Most of our poets, even those who worked as tyrannical kings’ eulogists, have used their poems to remind rulers of the right way to run the state, practice justice, and uphold the welfare of the people…In any age, writers have produced works which were in keeping with their society’s needs and which helped and guided the nation."

"the more sincere and intimate the relationship between a work and its reader, the better. So the countries that don’t have walls don’t need windows either, because the entire world is their field of vision and they can establish an unmediated relationship with their readers. I, in turn, envy them their free world."

"Being iconoclastic is only acceptable and desirable if the public—or at least a specific segment of society—is open to it. A literature that the public cannot relate to in any form will not endure. I have been iconoclastic, but I’ve never broken my ties with Iran’s past literature. No one can create a noteworthy work without knowing the tenets of their own language and literature. Language is renewed but it never changes its essence, because the contracts that have come about over time for communication cannot be rescinded so easily. It takes a thousand years before a word, among the thousands of words, dies away in a language or changes its meaning. Literature rests on language. It is a linguistic art. So it cannot sever its relationship with the past. But it can create new methods and styles that differ in structure, form, and content from the past."