According to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible.... The essence of perestroika lies in the fact that it unites socialism with democracy and revives the Leninist concept of socialist construction both in theory and in practice. We want more socialism and, therefore, more democracy.

Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organization cannot live a full-blooded life.

For the first time ever, we have confronted in reality the sinister power of uncontrolled nuclear energy.

Those who are late will be punished by life itself.

I will never give up politics. I've tried to give it up three times, but I never made it. Politics mobilizes me. I won't last long if I give it up.

The model of the consumer society is something that will one day end. My personal view is that too much consumption is wrong.

Sometimes people ask me why I began perestroika. Were the causes basically domestic or foreign? The domestic reasons were undoubtedly the main ones, but the danger of nuclear war was so serious that it was a no less significant factor.