Quotes from Sukarno

Am I not peaceful? We want to be free - completely free. Free to be free. We want to be left alone.

The sophisticates of Java, the traders of Sumatra, the peasants from the outer islands found no common ground. During siesta time from one to five, the Islamic group met separately, the Nationalist group met separately, the Federalist and Unitarians met separately.

Like David Copperfield, I was born amidst poverty and grew up in poverty. I did not own shoes. I did not bathe in water from a tap. I did no know about forks and spoons.

We must all build national unity, build all revolutionary forces, into one powerful wave to sweep away our main enemy, political imperialism and economic imperialism.

If I am not mistaken, it was a British poet who said that 'no one is properly dressed unless he wears a smile.'

Crush Malaysia! Indonesia may change its tactics, but our goal will remain the same.

If we truly understand, remember, and love the people of Indonesia, let us accept this principle of social justice, that is, not only political equality, but we must create equality in the economic field, too, which means the best possible well-being.

We must have a blueprint not only for a guided economy but for a social order based on justice and ensuring the well-being of the people.

To me, both the Declaration of Independence and the Communist Manifesto contain underlying truths, but the West doesn't permit a middle road.

Insofar as Pancasila is concerned, I am only its formulator: a formulator of those feelings which have been present silently in the heart of the Indonesian people.

The defense of the revolution is the defense of the people.

We feel free... Now we are really self-reliant. This is the great advantage of teaching ourselves to become a free people, no longer one that always asks, 'Aid, aid, please.'

Hatta always gave the impression of rain. If I was in a real good mood and full of ideas and then happened to encounter Hatta, I felt I was suddenly surprised by a shower of rain and got wet all over the body. My good mood was gone, and also my ideas.

We are living in a world of fear. The life of man today is corroded and made bitter by fear: fear of the future, fear of the hydrogen bomb, fear of ideologies. Perhaps this fear is a greater danger than the danger itself because it is fear, which drives men to act thoughtlessly, to act dangerously.

I am not an economist... I am not a business technician. I am a revolutionary, and I do what is right for an economic revolutionary.

If Marcos wants to aid Malaysia, that's his business, but we will continue to crush Malaysia, even if we have to fight alone.

I liked Kennedy. So far, he is the only American president who could talk with me and with whom I could talk. I know Johnson, but I have not yet a clear opinion of him.

Peking welcomed me with tremendous parades and gun salutes. The people with me are proud of me, proud that our downtrodden country has taken its place among the great nations. And now, people of America, I ask you, why didn't Eisenhower accord me the same respect?

I was weaned not on television or Wild West sagas but on stories of nationalism and patriotism. I would sit at my mother's feet by the hour and drink in these exciting tales of the freedom fighters in our family.

To intoxicate the masses until they were heady with the wine of inspiration was all I lived for. To me, this was elixir... I wax lyrical. I literally am overcome, and this is transmitted to my listeners.

I myself am sometimes fed up with Hatta's policies. Hatta and I sometimes bug each other, but omitting Hatta from the Proclamation Text... that is the action of a coward!

We are a fighting nation, continually struggling to overcome diseases from within... and to face up to foreign intervention from without.

It has been the case for some time that I have made myself dizzy thinking about the fact that the implementation of the Three-fold Program of the government, above all in the area of food and clothing, has been experiencing difficulties.

We are not facing great economic difficulties. The Indonesian people are faring reasonably well - just compare us to India or some other countries.