I am fundamentally an optimist.

It is also the fate of leadership to be misunderstood. It is a grave error for any leader to be oversensitive in the face of criticism, to conduct discussions as if he or she is a schoolmaster talking to less informed and inexperienced learners.

We can't win a war, but we can win an election.

Millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain enslaved by the chains of poverty. It is time to set them free.

To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.

We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.

One of the things that made me long to be back in prison was that I had so little opportunity for reading, thinking and quiet reflection after my release. I intend, amongst other things, to give myself much more opportunity for such reading and reflection.