I do not yet know of a man who became a leader as a result of having undergone a leadership course.

I am ... a realist. The magnitude of what one terms license or civil liberties or personal freedom has got to be adjusted to the circumstances.

The same law applies to me. Nobody has sued me for libel because I do not defame my enemies.

If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana.

What I fear is complacency. When things always become better, people tend to want more for less work.

I have no regrets. I have spent my life, so much of it, building up this country. There's nothing more that I need to do. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life.

If nobody is afraid of me, I'm meaningless.