Mohamed ElBaradei Quotes

Managing a country is like managing a company in many ways. It maybe involves more complicated issues, but its the same skills.

We know North Korea has the plutonium that can go into the bomb.

In April I founded the Constitution Party. With the Social Democrats and all liberal powers we will combine against the Islamists. We still have a chance and we should not waste the awakening; that would be a tragedy. Young people want more personal freedom and better jobs. They want a clear word from the West against Mohammed Morsi. If Americans and Europeans really believe in the values that they are always preaching then they must help us and pressure Morsi.

If you bet on individuals, instead of the people, you are going to fail.

The U.S. engages with North Korea, so I dont see why they cant engage with Iran.

I'm a lawyer. I go for due process; I go for fairness and equity - these values mean a lot to me.

In my view, stability only comes with a government that is elected by the people and works for the people.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a religiously conservative group. They are a minority in Egypt. They are not a majority of the Egyptian people, but they have a lot of credibility because all the other liberal parties have been smothered for 30 years.

We have no functioning parliament in Egypt and months ago Mohammed Morsi assumed legislative functions. Now he's decided that there should be no opposition to the laws that he makes and that he is authorized to pass any national security measure. It is difficult to be more absolutist than that. And the constitutional convention - what a sad gathering; it threatens to send us back to the darkest period of the Middle Ages.

All I know is, I think I would like to continue to do public service.

As much as we Egyptians treasure our military, acting alone it cannot provide the legitimacy to lay the foundations for democracy.

Egypt under Hosni Mubarak had deteriorated to the status of a failed state. We must wipe the slate clean and start again.

The time is right for a political solution and the way is negotiations.

No one should be put on trial without a valid reason. Former President Morsi must be treated with dignity. These are the conditions of national reconciliation.

Challenging the integrity of the non-proliferation regime is a matter which can affect international peace and security.

The Nobel Peace Prize is a powerful message. A durable peace is not a single achievement, but an environment, a process and a commitment.

The Germans should be the first to sympathize with us [Egyptians]. They know how difficult it is to build a democracy following a dictatorship, and they were the first to be critical of Morsi's anti-democratic policies.

Well, I think we still have to verify whatever declaration we will get and make sure that it is comprehensive and accurate. So, that would take care of the past activities.

You cannot apply your high standards to a country [Egypt] burdened with decades of autocratic rule. Our democracy is still in its infancy.

If the world does not change course, we risk self-destruction.

As long as some of us choose to rely on nuclear weapons, we continue to risk that these same weapons will become increasingly attractive to others.

I worry about a democracy having nuclear weapons as much as a dictatorship having nuclear weapons.

The sooner we put Egypt on the right track, the sooner we would be able to have an Egypt that is modern, that is moderate, and that is acting as a beacon for freedom and liberty across the Arab world.

I feel relieved that we discovered that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons.

When you have half of Caironese in slums, when you don't have clean water, when you don't have a sewer system, when you don't have electricity, and on top of that you live under one of the most repressive regimes right now... Well, put all that together, and it's a ticking bomb. It's not of a question of threat; it is question of looking around at the present environment and making a rational prognosis.

I still believe that any country understands that if they use nuclear weapons, they will be wiped out of existence. They could be irrational in many ways, but I don't think they're irrational to the point that they're ready to annihilate their own country.

Once in a while, I have to pinch myself to remind myself I am Nobel laureate, but that is not part of my work plan every day.

Iran has the technology to produce the highly enriched uranium, which is not automatically meaning nuclear weapon.

The dream of democracy has long been enshrined in the hearts of the Egyptian people. It only needed awakening.

Almost all of the liberal and Christian members of the constitutional commission have withdrawn, because we all fear that the Muslim Brotherhood will pass a document with Islamist undertones that marginalizes the rights of women and religious minorities. Who sits in this group? One person, who wants to ban music, because it's allegedly against Sharia law; another, who denies the Holocaust; another, who openly condemns democracy.

We must abandon the unworkable notion that it is morally reprehensible for some countries to pursue weapons of mass destruction, yet morally acceptable for others to rely on them for security - and indeed to continue to refine their capacities and postulate plans for their use

Every country has the right to nuclear technology as long as they use it safely, peacefully and in a secure way.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi grabbed full power for himself. Not even the pharaohs had so much authority, to say nothing of his predecessor Hosni Mubarak. This is a catastrophe - it a mockery of the revolution that brought him to power and an act that leads one to fear the worst.

I think it is fair to say that it is under a great deal of stress, and if I am asking for significant changes, it is because the world is going through significant changes.

If I could have just 1 per cent of the money spent on global armaments, no one in this world would go to bed hungry.

How can you run for president if you dont know the job description?

My conscience does not permit me to run for the presidency or any other official position unless it is within a democratic framework.

It would be, in fact, very ominous if Iraq were to be able to get weapon-usable material, hydro-plutonium or highly enriched uranium from abroad.

I have a lot of interests in global issues, as you know, humanity, inequity, arms control, and I continue to be active on all these issues.

The simple fact is that there is a limited amount of water on the planet, and we cannot afford to be negligent in its use. We cannot keep treating it as if it will never run out.

You either have a civil society or you dont.

America is always a good target for a populist. In many countries, particularly authoritarian systems, if you want to get an extra bonus, you bash the Americans.

Libya is a good example of a country that has come to a realization that weapons of mass destruction threaten more than assure, and I hope that will be followed by others.

Youre shooting yourself in the foot if you isolate or disempower the moderates.

Its up to any government to decide how to react to the denial of basic human rights anywhere in the world, including Egypt.

The Egyptians have grown in confidence, theyve tasted freedom, and theres no way back.

Democracy is more than a ballot box.

You will not really have durable peace without a proper security structure in the Middle East.