It is not often that nations learn from the past,even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it.

Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God.

Democracy is too important to leave up to the votes of the people.

When I first saw China, there were no automobiles. There were no supermarkets. There were no high-rise buildings. There were no consumer goods. There were no restaurants that were at least accessible that foreigners could see. It was a Stalinist society, and a very poor Stalinist society. So the economic system has totally changed, and the private sector in the economic system is now the dominant sector. It didn't exist at all as late as 1979.

The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.

We are used to dealing with problems that have a solution and that can be solved in a finite period. But we're at the beginning of a long period of adjustment that does not have a clear-cut terminal point, and in which our wisdom and sophistication and understanding has to be one of the key elements.

Countries do not assume burdens because it is fair, only because it is necessary.