Statesman Quotes

We need to reach that happy stage of our development when differences and diversity are not seen as sources of division and distrust, but of strength and inspiration.

I will, from this day strive to forge togetherness out of our differences.

Unless and until something concrete is done about addressing the Israeli-Palestinian issue you won't get a real start on the war against terrorism.

I think it is just stupid economics for a government to approach economic management from a strand of thinking regarding unions as enemies.

There is no doubt that this government and this country are benefiting from the reforms that we brought in the 1980s, and that couldn't have been done without the co-operation of the trade union movement.

My point was that the war was intrinsically wrong, and as a result of our participation we haven't improved Australia's security but created a greater danger at home and abroad.

The things which are most important don't always scream the loudest.

The proposition that Muslims are welcome in Britain if, and only if, they stop behaving like Muslims is a doctrine which is incompatible with the principles that guide a free society.

Morality and expediency coincide more than the cynics allow.

In politics, being ridiculous is more damaging than being extreme.

In my opinion, any man who can afford to buy a newspaper should not be allowed to own one.

Familiarity with evil breeds not contempt but acceptance.

You know, it is very clear that the Israelis, they don't want this plan and they don't agree.

We want to see Israel withdraw from our territory. But we don't want to be accountable vis-a-vis Israel on the security basis, because we don't see, in the absence of a peace agreement, that Lebanon can really be accountable to Israel if anything happens.

The Lebanese people voted this time for change. So they are not satisfied with the actual situation. They want to see a new government. They want to see a new vision.

On the other hand, we have in Israel, an Israeli government which has been elected by the Israeli people. Their political agenda is not for peace. They are from the camp anti-peace.

Mehlis will go all the way and we want to go all the way. These arrests show that no matter how high the perpetrators are, they will face the consequences of what they did.

I never threatened him and no Syrian intelligence officer has ever pointed a gun to his head.

We don't think that we are in a quarrel with anybody. We may have a difference of opinion, but we'll not allow such differences of opinion to grow into a problem that stands in the way of reconstructing the country and regaining the democratic path.

We need to restore the confidence in the country, first of all.

And on the other hand, we see that the Israeli government is attacking that part of the Palestinian leader.

The goal of the EU is to form a region of freedom, security and justice. Freedom in this connection cannot be just the freedom of the strong, but it must be combined with fraternity and equality.

The Finland of the 21st century can thrive only if women of learning - in common with their male counterparts - are guaranteed the opportunity to use their creative potential to the full.

Nuclear power is not a miracle key for the future.

It is people who are the objects of globalization and at the same time its subjects. What also follows logically from this is that globalization is not a law of nature, but rather a process set in train by people.

Finland, and all the other European countries, we are too dependent on imported energy. We should be using a broader variety of energy resources.

Everybody has to look after their own economy and follow the rules.

European citizens expect that there will be also a fair system inside the European Union and in the euro, and that's why we have to have quite hard discipline.

We are a model country where gender equality is concerned.

Under-representation of women and other inequality among researchers is a problem that will not solve itself as women acquire competence.