Personal desire, age, and my health do not allow me to personally have a role in running the country [i.e. Iran] after the fall of the current system [of the Shah].

If one commits the act of sodomy with a cow, an ewe, or a camel, their urine and their excrements become impure, and even their milk may no longer be consumed. The animal must then be killed and as quickly as possible and burned.

Those who say that we want nationality, they are standing against Islam....We have no use for the nationalists. Moslems are useful for us. Islam is against nationality.

With people's revolutionary rage, the king will be ousted and a democratic state, Islamic Republic, will be established.

If a fly gets into the throat of one who is fasting, it is not necessary to pull it out.

In Iran's future Islamic system everyone can express their opinion, and the Islamic government will respond to logic with logic.

We are not afraid of economic sanctions or military intervention. What we are afraid of is Western universities.