Alex Salmond Quotes

To win and retain the trust of the people requires an administration willing to focus on showing competence and direction in the day to day business of government.

We unite behind a declaration of self-evident truth. The people who live in Scotland are best placed to make the decisions that affect Scotland. We want a Scotland that's greener, that's fairer and more prosperous. We realise that the power of an independent Scotland is necessary to achieve these great ends...By the time we enter the referendum campaign in autumn 2014, our intention is to have one million Scots who have signed the independence for Scotland declaration. Friends, if we achieve that, then we shall win an independent Scotland.

It is the very stuff of politics that parties like to have a go at each other - a vibrant democracy demands no less.

Our united belief in social justice demands no less.

It is essential that we stress the importance of to our children - to ensure that they grow up with a full appreciation of their rich heritage and what it means to be Scottish - confident and secure in their national identity and their place in the world.

She is the living memorial as to why Scots want their own parliament.

In truth, most people already believe there is too much legislation and yearn for a more considered and more restricted approach. I embrace that sense of legislative restraint.

We lost the referendum vote but can still carry the political initiative. More importantly Scotland can still emerge as the real winner.

Through religious education, our young people also learn respect for and an understanding of other beliefs and how to make a positive difference to themselves and the world by putting their beliefs and values into action.

In Europe we see different visions of government in an interdependent world. Across the world we see a new order struggling to be born, one based on the rule of law and addressing the planetary imperatives of tackling mass poverty and global warming. These changes in governance are not to be feared but rather to be embraced. It is, after all, the essence of democracy that what has always been so, need not always be so.

The future strength of our rural economies and communities will depend upon the availability of a sufficient and appropriate supply of housing.

I will not give you an elegy - words to stir your hearts as our beloved Gaelic slowly fades away. And I will not be prescribing palliative care.

We Scots are proud Europeans. By history Scotland is - and by our ambition Scotland will remain - a European nation, a full member of the European Union. This is the starting point of our engagement with Europe. We will always play our full part and work to advance common European interests.

I respect the view of every Scot and every person living in Scotland. And I do so with a clear sense of my own responsibility to lead change and to argue for what I believe is in the Scottish national interest.

A critical aspect of increasing economic growth is creating a smarter Scotland.