"Smith was being realistic-if you give people something before they are ready [for it] they are going to mess it up. And that has happened. If he had had the opportunity to work with the people [and] help bring them up, Zimbabwe would be a better place now. Smith did make it better during his government. There is no reason why he could not do that if he had been allowed to go on."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ian_Smith
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (April 8, 1919 – November 20, 2007) was a farmer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. Smith took the decision to issue a 'Unilateral Declaration of Independence' from the United Kingdom in 1965 and led the rebel unrecognised government for the next fourteen years. He strongly believed that Rhodesia should continue to be ruled by its European-descended minority while the African descended majority became more experienced
23 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Ian Smith →
Related Quotes
"Let me say it again. I don't believe in black majority rule ever in Rhodesia—not in a thousand years. I repeat that I…"
"All the soul of man is resolution, which in valiant men falters never, until their last breath."
"I would be dishonest if I did not state quite clearly that the proposals which were put to us in Pretoria do not repr…"
"I am satisfied it has strengthened my hand tremendously. Nobody but a fool would disregard the kind of result we witn…"
"Pushing people forward simply because of their colour, irrespective of merit, would be most unfortunate and would of …"
"To those who say derogatory things about colonialism, I would say colonialism is a wonderful thing. It spread civilis…"
"We had the highest standard of health and education and housing for our black people than any other country on the Af…"
"[Robert Mugabe] was a very clever bloke and he worked with me for as long as he thought it was going to help him. Onc…"
"What we believed in was responsible majority rule as opposed to irresponsible majority rule, and I stand by that. I t…"
"Today is not such a tremendous day for us Rhodesians. We made our decision to become a Republic quite a long while ag…"