Vladimir Putin

Russian democracy is the power of the Russian people with their own traditions of national self-government, and not the realisation of standards foisted on us from outside.

We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement.

We’re no longer in the Cold War. Eavesdropping on friends is unacceptable.

Our military might is the guarantor of Russia’s security and independence.

Sometimes it is necessary to be lonely in order to prove that you are right.

When in 2007 I spoke in Munich…I spoke about the fact that the United States is widening the jurisdiction of its laws beyond its national borders, and that this is unacceptable. And that’s exactly what’s happening now, also to our European and other partners. Why is this happening? No one wanted to listen and no one did anything to stop this from developing.

That diploma you hold in your hands today is really just your learner’s permit for the rest of the drive through life. Remember, you don’t have to be smarter than the next person, all you have to do is be willing to work harder than the next person.

The rest of the world may associate May 1 with the struggle of American workers for basic rights…The U.S. calendar has a Labor Day, in September, celebrating the return to work after a vacation that is far briefer than in other industrial countries.

I’m one of those that believes you can’t be one kind of a man and another kind of president.

I’m sure corruption in Chechnya is minimal.

I will build a great wall – and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me – and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.

The writer is the engineer of the human soul.

Under my administration anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed out of our country and back to the country from which they came.

Overall, we are moving in the right direction. We have started on the trajectory toward robust economic growth in Russia. Yes, this growth is humble, small, but it is also not a fall. Growth was at 1.5 percent last year.

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.

It’s better to be hanged for loyalty than be rewarded for betrayal.

Well, I do think there’s blame — yes, I think there’s blame on both sides. You look at — you look at both sides. I think there’s blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it, and you don’t have any doubt about it either.

Politics is like boxing – you try to knock out your opponents.

I would rather take a political risk in pursuit of peace than to risk peace in pursuit of politics.

It should be known that Israel is based on treachery.

An IMF study that investigated the profits of American banks…found that they were almost entirely dependent on implicit public subsidies. There’s a kind of a guarantee – it’s not on paper, but it’s an implicit guarantee – that if they get into trouble they will be bailed out.