“Being in jail is difficult too because it’s like being in a graveyard, you can’t do much.”

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.

In a way, a jail is a place where you can rest, read books and live with yourself.

Political dictatorship and social hopelessness create the desperation that fuels religious extremism.

Right now, they feel they have lost their voice, and their miseries have increased since my departure.

The Internet is the great equalizer.The technology which emanated from the Silicon Valley of California has more potential to ameliorate social inequality than any development in the history of the world, including the industrial revolution.

The Holy Book calls upon Muslims to resist tyranny. Dictatorships in Pakistan, however long, have, therefore, always collapsed in the face of this spirit.

The next few months are critical to Pakistan’s future direction as a democratic state committed to promoting peace, fighting terrorism and working for social justice.

I know death comes. I’ve seen too much death, young death.

I’m not into smoke-filled rooms. I don’t have the time for byzantine political intrigues.

Jefferson thought schools would produce free men: we prove him right by putting dropouts in jail.

I haunted streets, whorehouses, police stations, courtrooms, theater stages, jails, saloons, slums, madhouses, fires, murders, riots, banquet halls and bookshops.

And unless you think there is a serious chance you’re going to jail, don’t listen to your lawyer.

The effect of Welfarism on freedom will be felt later on – after its beneficiaries have become its victims, after dependence on government has turned into bondage and it is too late to unlock the jail.

Of course it can be said of jails, too, that they try – by punishing the troublesome – to deter others. No doubt, in certain instances this deterrence actually works. But generally speaking it fails conspicuously.

I went to jail at 16 for stealing tires off Cadillacs. When I got out I said, Never again.

We black and they white. They got things and we ain’t. They do things and we can’t. It’s just like livin’ in jail.

Goddamnit, look! We live here and they live there.