Best 139 quotes of Mikhail Gorbachev on MyQuotes

According to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible.... The essence of perestroika lies in the fact that it unites socialism with democracy and revives the Leninist concept of socialist construction both in theory and in practice. We want more socialism and, therefore, more democracy.

America has a right to be a leader. This leadership should be realized through partnership, not domination.

Americans have a severe disease - worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex.

An awareness of the need for some kind of global government is gaining ground, one in which all members of the world community would take part.

A new generation of more educated people started to be active. Then society required freedom, society demanded freedom.

A New World Order is required to deal with the Climate Change crisis.

A new world order is taking shape so fast that governments as well as private citizens find it difficult just to absorb the gallop of events.

A society should never become like a pond with stagnant water, without movement. That's the most important thing.

Certain people in the United States are driving nails into this structure of our relationship, then cutting off the heads. So the Soviets must use their teeth to pull them out.

Communist ideology in its pure form is akin to Christianity. Its main ideas are the brotherhood of all peoples irrespective of their nationality, justice and equality, peace, and an end to all hostility between peoples.

Contemporary social democracy is what I believe is the right concept.

Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organization cannot live a full-blooded life.

Even today, a majority of people surveyed say that they regret the fact that the USSR collapsed. But only 9 percent say that they would want it back.

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.

Every US President has to have a war.

For a new type of progress throughout the world to become a reality, everyone must change. Tolerance is the alpha and omega of a new world order.

For the first time ever, we have confronted in reality the sinister power of uncontrolled nuclear energy.

Further global progress is now possible only through a quest for universal consensus in the movement towards a new world order.

Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep.

Globalization was supposed to break down barriers between continents and bring all peoples together. But what kind of globalization do we have with over one billion people on the planet not having safe water to drink?

God has given us enough wisdom to make improvements in our relations.

History is a capricious creature. It depends on who writes it.

Humankind has no option but to protect and live in harmony with its natural environment. However, it would be regrettable if in putting an end to revolutionary extremism, we should then come to environmental extremism. We should not forget that all extremes are the same.

I am a Communist, a convinced Communist! For some that may be a fantasy. But to me it is my main goal.

I am an optimist and I believe that together we shall be able now to make the right historical choice so as not to miss the great chance at the turn of centuries and millenia and make the current extremely difficult transition to a peaceful world order.

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

I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos.

I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals. Being at one with nature.

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

I envisage the prinicles of the Earth Charter to be a new form of the ten commandments. They lay the foundation for a sustainable global earth community.

If people don't like Marxism, they should blame the British Museum.

If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you. You haven't done much today.

If the Russian word "perestroika" has easily entered the international lexicon, this is due to more than just interest in what is going on in the Soviet Union. Now the whole world needs restructuring, i.e. progressive development, a fundamental change.

If you want Russia to be a real fully developed partner, then America should invest in Russia and activate Russia as a strong nation.

Imagine a country that flies into space, launches Sputniks, creates such a defense system, and it can't resolve the problem of women's pantyhose. There's no toothpaste, no soap powder, not the basic necessities of life. It was incredible and humiliating to work in such a government.

I'm still committed to the socialist idea because the socialist idea, correctly understood, includes the principles of freedom and social justice. It also includes the recognition of the value of democracy. When we speak about social justice, it means that freedom should be used not only in the interest of profit but also in the interest of the advancement of the people who create all values.

In effect, according to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible. By gaining democratic freedoms the working masses come to power.

In October 1917, we parted with the old world, rejecting it once and for all. We are moving toward a new world, a world of Communism. We shall never turn off that road.

In our discussions here at the forum there was no trace of the futile debate about what is better, capitalism or socialism...We should seek a synthesis of ideas and values that have proven their viability.

In principle as a philosophy, a model of organising society, Communism has to be respected. As regards the use of certain methods to advance social justice and greater regulation by the state, there are certain methods that are useful. What we need is a new society, a new civilization and convergence of all that is best in both [Communism and Capitalism]

In Russia, there are those who make their money in criminal ways, but I earn everything myself.

I paid too heavy a price for perestroika.

I remember Secretary of State [George] Shultz one day saying that America is an economic model for the world. I replied to him that America represents 5 percent of the world's population and consumes 30 percent of the world's energy. What if everyone in the world lives like Americans? Where do we get the energy for this standard of living?

I say again that I am an atheist. I do not believe in God.

I support freedom and I support a free market economy, but it should be a socially oriented market economy. I support globalization, but it should be globalization with a human face.

I think the United States is sick. It suffers from the sickness, the disease of being the victor and it needs to cure itself from this disease.

It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times.

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.

It is really important to solve the problem of rational utilization and distribution of wate supplies. I dare say, the shortage of fresh water is the major ecological problem of this moment.

It's America calling the shots in everything