Quotes from Mahathir Mohamad

Affirmative action is not something that the World Bank believes in or promotes.

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.

A heretic can be tolerated. But a heresy cannot.

The government seems to be set on bankrupting Proton and selling it off, because I think it is regarded as my baby.

It is not true at all that a free market will ensure a democracy. It doesn't. There must be a balance between a free market and some regulations which are essential in order to safeguard the interests of consumers and of people in general.

A lawyer wants to get his client off the hook. And even if he knows the client is guilty, he is going to find ways and means of getting him off the hook.

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 the people believe that the print media and the government-controlled TV are not really reporting what is happening, then people turn away from them, and their next resort is, of course, to access the Internet and what they can get on the Internet.

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.

I believe that currency trading should not be a business at all.

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.

I resigned on my own, and during my time, the country enjoyed a period of great prosperity.

The little Napoleons in UMNO try to keep out people who are more intelligent than themselves.

I believe that every leader has a right to implement his own policy. But when I see things that are done that are not right - abuse of power, wrong approaches, wrong strategies, making use of foreign consultants, including those discarded by other countries - I feel that I have to have my say.

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.

As far as Malaysia is concerned, Singapore is a foreign country.

A country without engineering skill and knowledge will never become a developed country.

Jews rule the world by proxy.

The Jews are not merely hook-nosed but understand money instinctively.

There's no point in treating a currency like a commodity, devaluing it artificially and causing a lot of poverty among poor countries.

In Malaysia, trials have always been fair.

Malaysia is particularly sensitive: we have three races here and 29 different tribes. If you allow people to say what they like, there will be violence, confrontations, and all that. We need stability.

I am glad to be labeled anti-Semitic.

Doctors look after me. But, basically, I look after myself. I don't overeat. I don't develop a big paunch. I do a little bit of exercise. At the same time, I believe that if you don't work, you will decay. The decay process is through not using your faculties - not using your brain, not using your body.