I want to leave UMNO because it is no longer UMNO. It is a party dedicated to supporting Mr. Najib, to protecting Mr. Najib, to upholding whatever it is that he does, including some of the wrong things that he has done. I cannot be a member of such a party.
— Mahathir Mohamad
It would seem the people who want to preserve the Penans' way of life are condemning them to a life full of diseases and a shorter life span.
The Internet has played a major role in undermining public morality.
Forcing some countries to accept democracy is something that should not be done.
I don't believe that you should punish the people of Iraq because you don't like their leader. Saddam Hussein is not being punished. He's fat, and he is eating enough food and living in palaces. But his people are punished by denying them food and medicine.
Whenever I am asked who I admire most among the leaders I have met, I have no hesitation in naming Nelson Mandela.
The West is very impatient. You want overnight change.
We all abhor terrorists, but we have to treat them as dangerous to all of us, not to any one particular country.
Australia is not a safe place.
When the planes crashed into the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, Bush immediately identified what he thought was the true cause. It was because the Muslims were jealous of the freedom of the American people. It was because the Muslims were poor. This exposes a lack of understanding of things on his part.
When you have a prime minister who is corrupt, then you can be sure that a country cannot be anything else but corrupt.
The Chinese are welcome to invest in industries in Malaysia. But just as we would not welcome mass immigration of Indians or Pakistanis or Europeans or Africans into Malaysia, we have to adopt the same stance on Chinese immigration into Malaysia.
Looking back now, I realise why, as prime minister of Malaysia, I was described as a dictator. There were many things I did which were typically dictatorial.
I cannot accept this country being destroyed by selfish people who only think about themselves.
Why do I want to remove Najib? I should have thought the whole world would know. This man steals money. Not a few hundred dollars, not a few thousand dollars - he stole billions of dollars, and that has been verified by investigations here in Malaysia and the U.S.
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.
I am saying that currency trading is unnecessary, unproductive, and immoral. It should be stopped. It should be made illegal.
If Australia wants to be a friend of Asia, it should stop behaving as if it is there to teach us how to run our country.
A heretic can be tolerated. But a heresy cannot.
The thinning of the ozone layer is blamed on logging of tropical forests. The fact that the burning of fossil fuels and release of CFCs (chloro-fluoro-carbons) into the atmosphere occur largely in the rich countries are significantly ignored.
If India is not too democratic, it will be like China in terms of development.
The Internet is undermining moral values.
Democracy for people who are not used to it can undermine stability, resulting in war.
There are certain things that we can deal with by following the rules. But at times, we find the rules restrict you from doing the right things. On such occasions, we have to rethink - either you change the rules or break the rules.
In the eyes of the world, Malaysia has become a pariah state, a state where anyone can be hauled up and questioned by the police, detained, and charged through abusing laws of the country.
I am the first authoritarian government elected to become a dictator and then resigning as a dictator. So this is the first dictator in the world who has resigned while still quite healthy.
Free press is not absolute. In this country, we say clearly if you start stirring up racial hatred, then we will put a stop to it. We might even close down your paper, because these things can only lead to a lot of riots and bloodshed.
I'm followed everywhere - it has become normal for me.
When the British ruled Malaysia, they burnt millions of acres of Malaysian forests so that they could plant rubber.
As far as Malaysia is concerned, Singapore is a foreign country.
I resigned on my own, and during my time, the country enjoyed a period of great prosperity.
Jewish stinginess and financial wizardry gained them commercial control of Europe and provoked anti-Semitism, which waxed and waned in Europe throughout the ages.
I achieved too little result from my principal task, the task of making my race a race that is respected, a race that is honourable, a race that is highly regarded.
Airplanes don't just disappear - certainly not these days with all the powerful communication systems, radio and satellite tracking, and filmless cameras which operate almost indefinitely and possess huge storage capacities.
If the countries of Europe and of North America can be almost uniformly prosperous, we don't see why we cannot be allowed to be a little prosperous.
I don't care how sacred is freedom, but I think the time has come for governments, at least the Malaysian government, to censor the Internet.
Running a democratic country is one of the most difficult things for any government.
We have had dealings with terrorists for a long time. From 1948 until 1990, we had domestic terrorism because the pro-communist groups wanted to overthrow the colonial government.
I was forced to say, 'I will not censor the Internet.' But I was never convinced.
Sudden change, even if it is for the good, is disruptive.
We believe that human rights always applies to the majority, who should have its rights protected. When people demonstrate and go to the streets, they deprive the majority from earning a living.
We say less things about Australians than Australians say about us, calling me a dictator, authoritarian government.
I am not anti-European. I have many friends and acquaintances who are Europeans.
I'm basically a creature of habit - I do practically the same thing every week, every day of every week: I go to the office, I meet people, I write, I read, and, of course, I give lectures.
Independence means we enjoy freedom. We are not colonised by people. And we can govern our own country and develop it independently so that our people can live a better life.
The biggest mistake that I have made in my life is choosing Najib.
I know I'm not popular with all the people. Remember, I am 'cruel' or a 'pharaoh.' That's all right. In politics, you get called all types of names.
You can be a liberal and accept same-sex marriage and all that, but that's your business.
We want to defend the rights of Malaysians. We don't want to sell chunks of this country to foreign companies who will develop whole towns.
Quite a few people who are in the media and in control of the big money seem to want to see these Southeast Asian countries - and, in particular, Malaysia - stop trying to catch up with their superiors and to know their place.
