Vladimir Putin

For Russia, there is not and there may not be another political option but democracy. However, Russian democracy is… not at all the realization of standards imposed on us from outside.

The events in Crimea themselves have nothing to do with what happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and other regions. In my opinion, when the world becomes unipolar, or when someone tries to make it so, then this one pole has the illusion that all issues can be settled through power. And only when there is a balance of power does the desire to negotiate appears.

Stability of tax policy must be absolutely guaranteed for the next six years.

If one looks at the map of the world, it’s difficult to find Iraq, and one would think it rather easy to subdue such a small country.

In line with international law, only the U.N. Security Council could sanction the use of force against a sovereign state. Any other pretext or method which might be used to justify the use of force against an independent sovereign state are inadmissible and can only be interpreted as an aggression.

I believe that President Trump of the United States does not need any advice because one has to possess certain talent and go through this trial to be elected, even without having the experience of such big administrative work. He has done this.

I think it’s fine when the mayor of the biggest city in Russia consults the president.

We’re doing better economically just about than at any time. We’re doing better on unemployment maybe than ever. You know, I mean, if you look at the unemployment numbers, you’ve heard me say it. And we’re doing better on unemployment than just about ever.

So it seems like if they want to reduce abortion, the best thing to do would be to support contraception – but they’re against contraception, too, because contraception and abortion decouple sexuality from procreation. That’s why I think religious preoccupation with abortion is largely about controlling the sexuality of women.

While President Bush likes to project an image of strength and courage, the real truth is that in the presence of his large financial contributors, he is a moral coward.

Fascism is a caricature of Jacobinism.

To forgive the terrorists is up to God, but to send them to him is up to me.

The depression was just a state of mind. It is over for everyone who has changed his state of mind.

Socialism is like a dream. Sooner or later you wake up to reality.

The state security bodies should not be seen as an institution that works against society and the state; one needs to understand what makes them work against their own people.

Syria is geographically and politically in the middle of the Middle East.

I have to keep law and order and it means that I have to kill my enemies before they kill me.

Mark Twain has wonderful anti-imperialist essays. But you don’t find reference to them. I think the first general publication of them was in a book, Mark Twain’s Weapons of Satire, edited by Jim Zwick about 10 years ago.

If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

I don’t read books by people who have betrayed the Motherland.

We have a tax-raising power in Scotland but not in English regions. I want genuine regional taxation powers [in England].