“The political parties have unanimously rejected the one-man constitutional changes.”

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.

It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.

Political work is the life-blood of all economic work.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

By 2000, politics will simply fade away. We will not see any political parties.

The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.

Like tens of thousands of others, I have been a spectator of, rather than a participator in, the activities – political, commercial, sociological, scientific – of the times in which I have lived.

Many science people feel groups like WHO are there to do a job and not to be dealt with in a political way.

My objection to Liberalism is this that it is the introduction into the practical business of life of the highest kind namely, politics of philosophical ideas instead of political principles.