Pakistan is heir to an intellectual tradition of which the illustrious exponent was the poet and philosopher Mohammad Iqbal. He saw the future course for Islamic societies in a synthesis between adherence to the faith and adjustment to the modern age.

The government I led gave ordinary people peace, security, dignity, and opportunity to progress.

I dream ...of a world where we can commit our social resources to the development of human life and not to its destruction

I'm not into smoke-filled rooms. I don't have the time for byzantine political intrigues.

Freedom is not an end. Freedom is a beginning.

Democracy is necessary to peace and to undermining the forces of terrorism.

Like all children I had taken my father for granted. Now that I had lost him, I felt an emptiness that could never be filled. But I did not let myself cry, believing as a Muslim that tears pull a spirit earthward and won't let it be free.