Quotes from Tony Blair

Once his wife goes to sleep it takes a minor nuclear explosion to wake her.

I think the journey for a politician goes from wanting to please all the people all the time, to a political leader that realises in the end his responsibility is to decide. And when he decides, he divides.

King Fahd was a man of great vision and leadership who inspired his countrymen for a quarter of a century as king. He led Saudi Arabia through a period of unparalleled progress and development.

Real progress cannot be measured by money alone. We must ensure that economic growth contributes to our quality of life, rather than degrading it

Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions on it.

Politics is about listening and it's about leading.

I'm afraid that's in the nature of modern politics - it's as much conducted by abuse as argument.

One of the most important things in politics is you've got to keep your mind infinitely curious and alive to what is happening differently.

I can't stand politicians who wear God on their sleeves.

I would've loved to have been in a band, but sadly I just wasn't good enough.

I'm a Labour politician, but, you know, I can see decent Tories with good ideas.

I want my son to grow up in a place where the people are more powerful than the government and not the other way around.

Power without principle is barren, but principle without power is futile. This is a party of government, and I will lead it as a party of government.

The first big choice: a government with the strength to deliver stability, or a government that takes the country back to boom and bust.

Most of the problems of government come from people being overwhelmed by the size and scale of what they have to do.

In government you carry each hope; each disillusion. And in politics it's always about the next challenge.

Leaders lead but in the end it's the people who deliver.

Look, I am very competitive.

I may find Saddam Hussein's regime abhorrent - any normal person would - but the survival of it is in his hands.

I say to the Taliban: surrender the terrorists; or surrender power. It's your choice.

The world is a better place with Saddam in prison not in power.

The intelligence is clear: (Saddam) continues to believe his WMD programme is essential both for internal repression and for external aggression.

Choice dependent on wealth; those are the Tory words.

I happen to think it's the politics that makes you electable, but the reason for that is politicians sometimes talk about electability as if it's just a matter of conning the public. Actually, it's a matter of persuading the public, and in my experience, usually, the public gets it right.