Quotes by Mikhail Gorbachev

“What we need is Star Peace and not Star Wars.”

“If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you havent done much today.”

“Our enemy sees us clearly. They will not start a war. Theyre worried about one thing: If democracy develops here, if we succeed, we will win.”

“We are not abandoning our convictions, our philosophy or traditions, nor do we urge anyone to abandon theirs.”

“If not me, who? And if not now, when?”

“America must be the teacher of democracy, not the advertiser of the consumer society. It is unrealistic for the rest of the world to reach the American living standard.”

“More socialism means more democracy, openness and collectivism in everyday life.”

“Jesus was the first socialist, the first to seek a better life for mankind.”

“Surely, God on high has not refused to give us enough wisdom to find ways to bring us an improvement in relations between the two great nations on earth.”

“It would be naive to think that the problems plaguing mankind today can be solved with means and methods which were applied or seemed to work in the past. . .”

“I am a Communist, a convinced Communist! For some that may be a fantasy. But to me it is my main goal.”

“My lifes work has been accomplished. I did all that I could.”

“The whole of the global economy is based on supplying the cravings of teo per cent of the worlds population.”

“I saw with open eyes/ Singing birds sweet/ Sold in the shops/ For the people to eat,/ Sold in the shops of/ Stupidity Street.// I saw in a vision/ The worm in the wheat,/ And in the shops nothing/ For people to eat;/ Nothing for sale in/ Stupidity Street.”

“Mechanical excellence is the only vehicle of genius.”

“To know everything there is to know about one subject is the secret of happiness.”

“Its a long climb up Fools Hill.”

If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you havent done much today.

I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos.

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.