People, human beings with all their creative diversity, are the makers of history.

Politics is my second love, next to my love for Raisa [Gorbacheva].

Humankind has no option but to protect and live in harmony with its natural environment. However, it would be regrettable if in putting an end to revolutionary extremism, we should then come to environmental extremism. We should not forget that all extremes are the same.

It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times.

Every part of our program of perestroika - and the program as a whole, for that matter - is fully based on the principle of more socialism and more democracy.

You are fortunate to live here. If I were your President, I would levy a tax on you for living in San Francisco!

The social model of the Bolsheviks failed, as will any model that denies individual rights, intellectual freedom, and freedom of competing political parties. Without these freedoms and rights, there is no motivation for people to work. Such a system cannot be sustained, especially in light of the technological revolution of the information era.