Mahathir Mohamad Quotes

History should remember Blair and Bush as the killers of children or as the lying prime minister and president.

It is disgraceful that you should be used by adults for the purpose of trying to shame us ... The timber industry helps hundreds of thousands of poor people in Malaysia. Are they supposed to remain poor because you want to study tropical animals? Is your study more important than filling the stomachs of poor people? Are Malaysians expected to lose millions of pounds so that you can study animals? [...] I hope you will tell the adults who made use of you to learn all the facts. They should not be too arrogant and know how best to run a country…

To be known you have to be a little bit nasty. In any case, I'm nasty only toward governments. I'm not nasty towards business people.

It's quite obvious that when the Eastern bloc was still there, it was a bustle between capitalism and communism. Once communism was defeated, then capitalism could expand and show its true self. It's no longer constrained by the need to be nice, so that people will choose their so-called free-market system as opposed to the centrally planned system. So because of that, nowadays there is nothing to restrain capital, and capital is demanding that it should be able to go anywhere and do whatever it likes.

This country stands out like a sore thumb trying to impose its European values in Asia as if the good old days when people can shoot aborigines without caring about human rights.

We also do not call each other "Bapak This" or "Bapak That, not like in the past. We now only hear people calling "Bapak" (father) at home.

We will shoot [any Vietnamese migrants] on sight.

Even if I were to kiss and hug Anwar Ibrahim in public, they will say there is a rift because this is what they want to see.

He has no close friends that I know of.

We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes. When you are not opposed you think everything you do is right.

Clearly Islam the religion is not the cause of terrorism. Islam, as I said, is a religion of peace. However through the centuries, deviations from the true teachings of Islam take place. And so [people who call themselves] "Muslims" kill despite the injunction of their religion against killing especially of innocent people.

To be a great leader, one needs to have good strategies, be knowledgeable and able to predict the future. "Dr M on what makes a great leader" malaysiakini (13 August 2009)

I believe that the country should have a strong government but not too strong. A two-thirds majority like I enjoyed when I was prime minister is sufficient but a 90% majority is too strong.

When one is short, one should stand on a box to get a better view. The Twin Towers is [sic] to our ego what the box is to the shorties.

The Malays are spiritually inclined, tolerant and easy-going. The non-Malays, and especially the Chinese, are materialistic, aggressive and have an appetite for work. For equality to come about, it is necessary that these strikingly contrasting races adjust to each other.