Andreas Papandreou

"National Independence, Popular Sovereignty, Social Liberation, Democratic Process."

"Time for "Change" has come."

"There are no institutions – only the people rule this country."

"Greece belongs to the Greeks.("Η Ελλάδα ανήκει στους 'Ελληνες.")"

"We consume more than we produce."

"Greece is rich but the Greeks are poor."

"I accuse my accusers."

"The Greeks have betrayed me."

"Tsovola give it [to them] all. (Τσοβόλα δώσ'τα όλα.)"

"Power to the people."

"I'm grateful to no one about anything."

"I no longer trust anyone, not even myself."

"Don't worry, I’ll stop the audit. As long as I'm prime minister, nothing's going to happen."

"It might be expected that an official would offer himself a present, but not one as big as 500 million drachmas."

"Simitis is good, but he is not PASOK."

"I may not believe in a Turkish threat, you may not believe in a Turkish threat, but the Greek public believes in it, and that makes it Greek reality and you have to deal with it in those terms."

"Greece's only successful fascist regime probably was Andreas Papandreou's [...] Both the military regime of John Metaxas, from 1936 to 1941, and the junta from 1967 to 1974, never achieved a broad level of popular response to their message, which was seen as artificial, even ridiculous. By contrast, Papandreou's posturings and habits reassured a people who harbored a mistrust and envy of the West that their way of life was legitimate. Much like Mussolini, Papandreou succeeded as the embodiment of a nationalist-populist resentment. He was the ideal Greek every-man. He threatened America and backed up these threats by embracing America's enemies—Qaddafi and the terrorists. Papandreou danced the traditional Greek dances in public. He distributed the wealth to his partisans as a reward for their loyalty. Even with the Liani affair, in a male-oriented society like Greece's there was a certain resonance. Papandreou projected the Mussoliniesque image of the nation's first lover. His divorce and humiliation of Margaret Chant not only reinforced his (and Greece's) break with America, but also with another threatening demon of the Greek male, feminism."

"He [Andreas Papandreou] wanted to build a state with better salaries and services. But in the end, the money just went into the bureaucracy and not to the people. In fact, we built up such a large state that we had to keep borrowing just to pay its expenses. This was a terrible mistake."

"Andreas Papandreou corrupted the Greek psyche and gave to Greeks an entitlement culture based on their existence and not on their ability to work and take risks."

"One of the most courageous and committed politicians I have ever met."

"Andreas is an actor who does not believe in anything. He loves himself, power and women, and that's all."

"He's an unpredictable, very irresponsible man, ruthlessly ambitious, Andreas has to be Prime Minister of the world to be happy. But he has always had very generous feelings toward the Greek people."

"Andreas was not a philanderer. He was a serial monogamist."

"There are many scandals in Greece [...] The only difference in my case is that here someone is saying, himself, what he did with Papandreou."

"He's one of the most fascinating characters [modern] Greek history has produced, but after all the sound and fury, he signifies nothing."

"Each leader has the privilege of choosing the way he will leave [the political scene], [...] Andreas Papandreou chose to deny reality."