Corazon Aquino

"The nation was awakened by that deafening shot."

"I am not embarrassed to tell you that I believe in miracles."

"By the grace of God and the unshakeable faith of the Filipino people, I am confident we shall pull through."

"In giving, we receive; in losing, we find; and out of defeat, we snatched our victory."

"With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the rights as God gives us to see the rights, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

"As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it. That is my contract with my people and my commitment to God."

"None of the good that we do is ever lost; not even the light in an empty room is wasted."

"I believed that nowhere could you find more effective cures for the ills of our country — such as the habit of oppression, the inclination to corruption, betrayal of the public interest — than in the blessings of democracy: freedom; rights; transparent dealings; and a government of the people by the people themselves."

"Let us rather be grateful to the nation and to the historical moment for the privilege we had of being heroes."

"I don´t know anything about the presidency."

"During Ninoy´s incarceration and before my presidency, I used to ask why it had always to be us to make the sacrifice. And then, when Ninoy died, I would say, ´Why does it have to be me now?´It seemed like we were always the sacrificial lamb."

"For the first time in the history of the world, a civilian population has been called to defend the military."

"People used to compare me to the ideal president, but he doesn´t exist and never existed. He has never lived."

"I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life."

"I firmly believe in the freedom of the press. And I accept the criticisms poured on me, painful as they are, as part and parcel of the hazards of public service, and conducive to its honest performance."

"It is my aim to add the distinction of shepherding our democracy through its first political succession, by clean and peaceful elections."

"While my power as president ends in 1992, my responsibility as a Filipino for the well-being of my country goes beyond it to my grave. A great part of that responsibility is to do the best I can today, according to my best lights, while I have the power to do it."

"Government often had to do what pressing realities compelled it. And if the government sometimes lacked better choices, it never lacked the sincere desire to do good."

"As President, I have never prayed for anything for myself; only for our people."

"I hope that history will judge me as favorably as our people still regard me because, as God is my witness, I honestly did the best I could. No more can be asked of any man."

"This is the glory of democracy, that its most solemn moment should be the peaceful transfer of power."