Kamisese Mara Quotes

"In a multi-racial society, trust, understanding and tolerance are the cornerstones of peace and order".

If the constitution goes, I go.

(Recollection of what he was thinking to himself when confronted by the military): "They want me out, they want me to abrogate the constitution and this is exactly what Speight wants and if they belong to Speight, I don’t belong to them."

(On his proposal to overcome the ethnically polarized election results with a National Unity government in 1982, which the Opposition declined): "Fiji was too small to squander its limited pool of talent. Worse still, this division created an atmosphere of frustration that could fester and poison relations."

(On his Catholic faith): "Certainly it has been the rock on which I have always been able to rely in good times and in bad, and it is the lodestone of my life."

The reconciliation that has been undertaken today will be worthless if investigations into the coup do not reveal the truth behind the staging.

At that stage my heart ruled my head".

It is with obedience to your call that I take up the burden of government leadership for the final time.

When you (President Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau) called me at Lomaloma in December 1987 and asked me to form an Interim Government to prepare the country for a return to parliamentary rule, I knew the task at hand would be onerous. Fiji had experienced the ordeal of two military coups. Society was fractured, the economy was tottering and the country had been ostracised by some of its oldest friends and allies. There was no Parliament and no properly functioning political system. Even institutions of State, such as the judiciary, were seriously weakened, to the extent that the citizenry justifiably feared a breakdown in law and order. The business community was hit by a slump in sales and confidence, leading to reduced earnings and loss of jobs.

How could I stand by and watch my house on fire? (This quote, and the one following, were part of his defence for joining Sitiveni Rabuka's military government in 1987).

"Above all there is our fixed joint determination to build a strong and united Fiji, rich in diversity and pampered with tolerance, goodwill and understanding." (Attributed to Mara by his successor as President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, 10 October 2005).

I said, yes, if you think I will avoid bloodshed by standing aside I will stand aside … but I will never ever again come back.

The Pacific Way … is not a thing or state; it is the working out of a process. (But) … the most important things in life are the most difficult to measure … love, peace of mind, creativity, fulfillment, maturity or wisdom, for example.

From where I stand, I do not see the lost people of the South Seas, the defeated and the despairing, shrunken shadows of those who went before. What I observe are the proud descendants of some of the most remarkable explorers and settlers who ever lived. We carry the cultural and historical inheritance of ocean navigators of peerless skill and their courageous kin who crossed vast distances before the tribes of Europe had ventured forth from their small part of the earth. Our forebearers populated islands scattered over the world's greatest stretch of water, covering a fifth of the planet's surface. It was one of the most amazing migrations in history, a triumphant testimony to human endurance, fortitude and achievement.

I had been in touch with a lot of people I thought would stand by me in the front row of the scrum, (I) didn't know it was going to collapse.