Quotes from Mikhail Gorbachev

The market is not an invention of capitalism. It has existed for centuries. It is an invention of civilization.

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

I think we need more young people; we need to elect young people to government. We need to give them a chance, in the media, in politics, in democracy.

On the day I became Soviet leader, in March 1985, I had a special meeting with the leaders of the Warsaw Pact countries and told them: 'You are independent, and we are independent. You are responsible for your policies, we are responsible for ours. We will not intervene in your affairs, I promise you.'

What about Jesus Christ? I say that he was a precursor of idealists; a precursor of socialists.

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.

Putin wants to stay in power, but not so that he can finally solve our most pressing problems: education, health care, poverty.

Sometimes it's difficult to accept, to recognise one's own mistakes, but one must do it. I was guilty of overconfidence and arrogance, and I was punished for that.

You cannot put Russia down on its knees and hold it there because Russia will ultimately pull out.

Democracy must learn to defend itself.

Sometimes when you stand face to face with someone, you cannot see his face.

Starting reforms in the Soviet Union was only possible from above, only from above. Any attempt to go from below was suppressed, suppressed in a most resolute way.

It seems that the most important thing about Reagan was his anti-Communism and his reputation as a hawk who saw the Soviet Union as an 'evil empire.'

Ex-Presidents of the United States get state subsidies. Not so in Russia. You get no government support.

I don't think Russia is setting this as a goal; I don't think this should be Russia's goal. I think even the United States doesn't need to be a superpower. China doesn't need to be a superpower. It's a different world.

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.

I think God has some mechanism that he uses to punish those that make mistakes.

There should be competition and exchanges between different countries, but there are certainly certain universal values, and that is freedom and democracy.

My life's work has been accomplished. I did all that I could.

It would be naive to think that the problems plaguing mankind today can be solved with means and methods which were applied or seemed to work in the past.

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.

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

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

America must be the teacher of democracy, not the advertiser of the consumer society. It is unrealistic for the rest of the world to reach the American living standard.