Mayors

"We were not exemplary and I am infinitely sorry (for playing guitar at a wedding ceremony in defiance of existing COVID-19 lockdown rules)."

"There are several museums and foundations in Israel dedicated to Jews from the region. For instance, we have the excellent Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in the town of Or Yehuda, dedicated to the heritage of the Iraqi Jewish community. We have the International Center for North African Jewry in Jerusalem. What we lack is a national museum, one run by the State of Israel, which will honor, commemorate and preserve the history and the traditions of Sephardic Jews and Jews from all Arab countries. I have been pushing this idea for some time now, and we have started inspecting plots, either owned by the Jerusalem municipality or state-owned land, that could potentially house such a project."

"We respect science (the cancellation of New Year's Eve celebrations after Brazil confirmed the first known cases of the Omicron). The (Rio de Janeiro) city's committee says it can go ahead (new year's eve celebrations) and the state's says no. So it can't take place. Let's cancel the official New Year's Eve celebration in Rio."

"Changing borders by force is not acceptable."

"Now, this was an act of war, pure and simple... against Germany. And...President Joseph Biden, at a press conference in the presence of the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, said this is going to happen if Russia invaded Ukraine. And, of course, he was asked, well, how do you do this? I mean, how can you how can you be so confident that Nordstrom will be killed and Biden said, well, just, you know, trust me, it’s going to happen. And so she, bilingual, the Reuters reporter, turned to Scholz – and this is not widely available now for obvious reasons – and she said, well, I mean, do you agree with that? I mean, hello, how do you feel about this? And this hack, this political hack said: we do everything together. We do everything together. We will be together on this now. So... that interview is available in Germany.... I describe Olaf Scholz as kind of the epitome of the abused spouse. Stands there and is abused not only by his master, Joe Biden, but also by this hack that he has as foreign minister. Her name is Baerbock. She is the the most vociferous of all the people saying that we are...at war with Russia.... Here it is exactly to the month, 90 years later. Will the German people acquiesce in their industry, and then their bodies being frozen out this winter? Or will they rise up and say: “Look, Mr Scholz, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing, and neither does Baerbock. Get out of here!”, and replace that government?"

"[if Beijing] tightens international production chains' dependence on China, [Berlin will] dismantle one-sided dependencies [where needed. German manufacturers are already sourcing] important raw materials, some rare earths or certain cutting-edge technologies [from other partners]."

"I am not going to join the queue of people who do a quick in-and-out (of Ukraine) for a photo opportunity. If I go (to Ukraine), it will be about concrete things."

"It is only a matter of weeks before Omicron is dominant here (in Germany)."

"It was Putin who chose this war (2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine), not the Russian people, so we must see clearly that this is Putin's war."

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point. It is our duty to do our best to support Ukraine in defending itself against Putin's invading army."

"We are putting all our weapons on the table to show that we (Germany) are strong enough to overcome any economic challenge that this (COVID-19) problem might pose."

"Most of the citizens of this country certainly wished that the next health minister would be a specialist, really good at what he does, and that his name would be Karl Lauterbach — and it will be."

"We will have to invest more in the security of our country to protect out freedom and democracy."

"It's cynical to tell Ukrainians they should defend themselves against Putin's aggression without weapons."

"It is very important to send a new signal of confidence and hope that this (Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo) accession (into the European Union) process is wanted by the EU (European Union) with great seriousness, and that it also has a realistic chance if everyone makes an effort."

"“They threw at me not just the kitchen sink but also the toilet bowl.""

"Cleanliness starts in the toilet."

"I consider myself lucky that Emil Jurado taught me English for only one semester. I'm afraid to think of what my English would now be if he had taught me any longer. This is what I get for having been attentive during his class."

"The Japanese, the Chinese and other Asian countries speak their dialect (when dealing with other countries) -- I don't see why we Filipinos cannot speak our own dialect."

"On a scale of 1 to 10, I give myself 70 percent."

"Today, for the first time in the history of civilisation, more people are living in cities than in rural areas. The kind of person that is willing to leave everything behind and move to the city is a special kind of person and that's what helps make cities special.*"

"When people abuse you, you must walk away. When you have to work with people throwing dirt at you on a daily basis, you walk away."

"Walking away from an abusive relationship is a sign of strength. It shows the world that you know your worth and your rights and that you will not allow anyone to walk all over you."

"Now the leaders are more deadlocked. If they can’t decide, nothing happens. In America, if you’re corrupt you have to resign. Look at Nixon. He had Watergate and had to resign. In China does that happen? No. Why? Because everyone is in one boat. If that boat turns over, everyone ends up in the water. When I say “everyone” of course I mean the people in power. So in China everyone helps each other out. If you are in trouble, I’ll help you out and if I’m in trouble you help me out. So only in an extreme case like Bo Xilai can someone be pushed out."

"Friends, after all, are supposed to mutually help each other, mutually understand each other. Keeping one’s strengths secret doesn’t only prevent one’s friends from knowing you; it also prevents one’s friends from advancing and learning from your strengths. Many such good strengths have been destroyed by the vanity of the petty bourgeoisie."

"Knowing one’s flaws is necessary, but knowing one’s strengths and having courage to use them is also necessary. To talk about one’s weaknesses to friends is frank and honest, just as talking about one’s strengths should also be seen as frank. Modesty is an important virtue, but practicality should also be valued."

"We should not be immeasurably satisfied with the qualities of a mediocre person, but we should also avoid artificial modesty."

"People always love expressing themselves, and they often pretend to be modest in their words, saying that they are no good at this or that. This is particularly common among friends. But even if people are actually modest, there is no benefit to their behavior."

"Images of people actually objectively exist, and on some levels they reflect the peoples’ innermost worlds, including their thoughts, qualities, and personalities. Though some peoples’ actions do not match their words, I think this can be controlled. These people can hide their feelings. But hypocrites who perform as upright people aren’t very convincing."

"In interactions with friends, we all care about examining each others’ images, and we carefully emphasize the images that we present to our friends. The closer one is with someone, the more we care about this. People never want to feel insignificant in the eyes of someone else, unless we despise this person and want them to quickly forget us."

"Feelings are better with a bit of depth. Many revolutionary leaps and achievements are accompanied by the colors of romance. Being able to remember the past with sentimentality is therefore a type of virtue. Regarding melancholy, I don’t like this emotion."

"We don’t only depend on “images” to arouse passion and excitement in our lives. More importantly, we must have a rational spirit and help each other move forward. After all, “images” are just a means of getting one’s foot in the door."

"I was dragged into this and really wronged, but the truth will come out one day."

"Dad and Mom have passed away, but their teachings are deeply ingrained in my mind. I will never bring disgrace to them and their glory. I can bear the suffering no matter how great it is."

"On the other hand, one ought to have the moral character and tolerance to forgive people’s weaknesses."

"We sincerely welcome more foreign experts to China to spark innovation and pursue successful careers. And we welcome the talents from all over the world to be part of our modernization drive, and make even greater contribution to building a community with a shared future for mankind, to world peace and development, and to human progress."

"A lot of investors (last time), when they come to Indonesia, they complain about labor law, tax and business permit. Now there aren't many complaints because we've what we call the online single submission. Before, if you applied for a business permit, you would need 6 months, 8 months or more than one year. Now it takes no more than 3 hours for 9 business permits with online single submission."

"Development in the South China Sea also captures our attention. Tensions in the area must be diffused through peaceful means, especially based on (inaudible). Indonesia is not a party to the dispute, but we have legitimate interest in peace and stability there. That is why we call all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from taking action that could undermine trust and confidence, and put at risk the peace and stability of the region. We need to talk closely to ensure good order at sea, prevent incidents, and ensure freedom of navigation."

"Indonesia democracy is maturing. Our democracy grants us (inaudible), the freedom of speech. By the way, freedom of the speech is also guaranteed. Indeed, our media and social media have been instrumental in exposing corruption and demanding (inaudible) from our government officials. Our democracy’s public participation is every aspect of our lives. Only in a democracy the people are free to choose their leaders. Without democracy there is no President Joko Widodo."

"June 23rd showed us that no one, no individual or power, can stand in the way of the will of the people, no politician has the luxury to ignore that fact."

"There are some parts of Turkey where the refugees outnumber the actual residents. No country in the world would accept this and nor should they."

"Our way is long. Our excitement is high. We have youth! We are the Turkish youth, that thirsty for justice and have full of faith in democracy! And we will never give up!"

"Everything will be very nice."

"God knows..."

"There was a strange aftertaste to many of the calls for grand social reform in 2020. As the coronavirus crisis overtook us, the left wing on both sides of the Atlantic, at least that part that had been fired up Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, was going down to defeat. The promise of a radicalized and reenergized left, organized around the idea of the Green New Deal, seemed to dissipate amidst the pandemic. It fell to governments mainly of the center and the right to meet the crisis. They were a strange assortment. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States experimented with denial. For them climate skepticism and virus skepticism went hand in hand. In Mexico, the notionally left-wing government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador also pursued a maverick path, refusing to take drastic action. Nationalist strongmen like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey did not deny the virus, but relied on their patriotic appeal and bullying tactics to see them through. It was the managerial centrist types who were under most pressure. Figures like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the United States, or Sebastián Piñera in Chile, or Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, and their ilk in Europe. They accepted the science. Denial was not an option. They were desperate to demonstrate that they were better than the 'populists.' To meet the crisis, very middle-of-the-road politicians ended up doing very radical things. Most of it was improvisation and compromise, but insofar as they managed to put a programmatic gloss on their responses—whether in the form of the EU's Next Generation program or Biden's Build Back Better program in 2020—it came from the repertoire of green modernization, sustainable development, and the Green New Deal."

"Your incoherent and foul-mouthed rant against two of the country’s major media outfits – the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN – was not only unwarranted, it was absolutely twisted. It was a brazen abuse of your immense power as chief executive of this land and only shows how little, if any, appreciation you have of democracy and governance."

"By his own policies and actions, Duterte has defined his legacy. It is a malignant one characterized by treason, tyranny, butchery, corruption and deception."

"We do have an unfit President. He just confessed to doing the killing of people in Davao and we know that he's the one promoting and encouraging and tolerating these killings and therefore, that is an impeachable offense."

"Duterte has long attempted to shut down the Rappler, which has published groundbreaking work on Duterte’s deadly so-called war on drugs that’s killed thousands of people. Duterte has repeatedly described the site as “fake news.” PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE: "You are a—a fake news outlet. And I am not surprised that your articles are also fake." AMY GOODMAN: Duterte has also called reporters who ask him tough questions “spies,” and warned that, quote, “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination.” While Duterte’s government has attempted to silence Maria Ressa, her journalism has been praised around the world."

"I am proud to say that President Duterte was my student in political science at the Lyceum of the Philippines when I was still a young professorial lecturer. He became a member of the Kabataang Makabayan of which I was the national chairman."