I feel sanguine enough to say that there has never been a better set of conditions for open democratic politics because there is no need for unified front politics.

As you solve one set of problems, new ones appear. That is part of the nature of life.

If you can't force or are unwilling to force your people to follow you, with or without threats, you are not a leader.

A leader without the vision, to strive to improve things, is no good. Then you will just stay put, you won't progress.

Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless.

The human being is an unequal creature. That is a fact. And we start off with the proposition. All the great religions, all the great movements, all the great political ideology, say let us make the human being as equal as possible. In fact, he is not equal, never will be.

I wouldn't call myself an atheist. I neither deny nor accept that there is a God... So I do not laugh at people who believe in God. But I do not necessarily believe in God - nor deny that there could be one.