Mikhail Gorbachev

It is my firm belief that the infinite and uncontrollable fury of nuclear weapons should never be held in the hands of any mere mortal ever again, for any reason.

Political leaders still think things can be done through force, but that cannot solve terrorism. Backwardness is the breeding ground of terror, and that is what we have to fight.

More socialism means more democracy, openness and collectivism in everyday life.

I believe, as Lenin said, that this revolutionary chaos may yet crystallize into new forms of life.

The world will not accept dictatorship or domination.

Man is beginning to explore the galaxy. But how much remains undone on earth?

Every part of our program of perestroika - and the program as a whole, for that matter - is fully based on the principle of more socialism and more democracy.

You cannot go to sleep with one form of economic system and wake up the next morning with another.

It will not be enough to rely on experts. Ordinary citizens must become experts too. It will take public opinion on a wide scale to ensure that world leaders act.

The time has come to develop integrated global policies.

The time has come to choose a new direction of global development, to opt for a new civilization.

We need a new environmental consciousness on a global basis. To do this, we need to educate people.

Those who are late will be punished by life itself.

The shortage of fresh water is the major ecological problem of this moment.

Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people. Since the very birth of human civilization, people have moved to settle close to it. People move when there is too little of it. People move when there is too much of it. People journey down it. People write, sing and dance about it. People fight over it. And all people, everywhere and every day, need it.

Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences.

Ideally, peace means the absence of violence. It is an ethical value.

The human race has entered a stage where we are all dependent on each other. No other country or nation should be regarded in total separation from another, let alone pitted against another.