Vladimir Putin

I think: the powers like to talk about ‘freedom’ in order to wash the population’s brains.

China is a great country with a great culture, populated by fascinating, industrious and talented people.

At least in Russia, you cannot just go and tap into someone’s phone conversation without a warrant issued by court. That’s more or less the way a civilized society should go about fighting terrorism.

Firstly, the use of our armed forces in the battlefield is a unique experience, a unique tool by which to improve our armed forces. No amount of military exercise could compare with the use of force in combat conditions.

I am never guided by a possible assessment of my work.

No references to the need to fight terror can be an argument for restricting human rights.

Of course all such conclusions about appropriate actions against the rich and powerful are based on a fundamental flaw: This is us, and that is them. This crucial principle, deeply embedded in Western culture, suffices to undermine even the most precise analogy and the most impeccable reasoning.

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

Give me just one generation of youth, and I’ll transform the whole world.

You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for it.

The international monetary fund recently [2014] did a study in which it concluded that virtually the entire profit of the big banks comes from the government insurance policy.

Do you train for passing tests or do you train for creative inquiry?

History will point out some of the things I did wrong and some of the things I did right.

A figure who receives money from abroad for his political work, and thus serves some foreign interest, cannot be a politician in Russia.

Changes and progress very rarely are gifts from above. They come out of struggles from below.

Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle under autocratic control. Thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist; that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level – there’s a little bargaining, a little give and take, but the line of authority is perfectly straightforward. Just as I’m opposed to political fascism, I’m opposed to economic fascism. I think that until major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it’s pointless to talk about democracy.

Thousands of years ago, civilizations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent. Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous.

In fact when the press discusses [a national healthcare program] they call it “politically impossible.” Meaning the pharmaceutical companies won’t accept it, the insurance companies won’t accept it, and so on.

When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither, holler.

We must understand that governments cannot create real jobs. Only entrepreneurs can do that.

A society should never become like a pond with stagnant water, without movement. That’s the most important thing.