“Every dictator uses religion as a prop to keep himself in power.”

You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea.

I believe that democracies do not go to war; that’s the lesson of history, and I think that a democratic Pakistan is the world community’s best guarantee of stability in Asia.

When the United States aligns with dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, it compromises the basic democratic principles of its foundation – namely, life, liberty and justice for all.

General Musharraf needs my participation to give credibility to the electoral process, as well as to respect the fundamental right of all those who wish to vote for me.

What is important is that a political party articulates the mood of a generation.

Given the right to a free ballot, the people would support my return.

I dream …of a world where we can commit our social resources to the development of human life and not to its destruction

A political war can be fought from anywhere.

The military wants a system that protects its policies and privileges.

The government I led gave ordinary people peace, security, dignity, and opportunity to progress.

Military hardliners called me a ‘security threat’ for promoting peace in South Asia and for supporting a broad-based government in Afghanistan.

So he manipulates and dangles some kind of carrot in front of the world all the time. This is not good for the people [of Pakistan], and I think the world has got it all wrong.

The forces of moderation and democracy must, and will, prevail against extremism and dictatorship. I will not be intimidated… Despite threats of death, I will not acquiesce to tyranny, but rather lead the fight against it.

What is not recorded is not remembered.

It’s never easy dealing with terrorists, but it must be done through a mixture of political, economic and administrative means.

Democracy needs support and the best support for democracy comes from other democracies. Democratic nations should come together in an association designed to help each other and promote what is a universal value – democracy.

How do you do original work when culture is telling you which font face to use, which layout.

I’ve never read a kayak manual, but I’m pretty sure page one says ‘Use in water.’

True ‘magic’ is simply the ability to transcend what seems to be and, thus, transform one’s experience. Maybe we could all use a little ‘Harry Potter’ in our lives.

With the increasing importance of standards for system-level objects such as COM and CORBA, it is particularly important that the C++ bindings to those be clean, well documented, and simple to use.

What’s the use of being Irish if you can’t be thick?

We have to get our states to adopt what are called “renewable portfolio standards” pledging to use a lot of renewable energy by 2015 or 2020. We have to work with businesses and shops to get them engaged in the same way.

I’m basically a dinosaur. I don’t use e-mail. But I do recognize the importance of science and the resulting possibilities.

Twitter and Facebook are brilliant- tools, the journalistic uses of which are still being plumbed. They are great for disseminating interesting material. They are useful for gathering information, including from places that are inaccessible.