Quotessence
Home / Authors / Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew Quotes

Singaporean Politician

Filter quotes by topic

AllSingaporeIfsPeopleInspiringThinkingBelieveGovernmentKnowsMenWayYearsLeaderNeedsDemocracyDoneEndsHas BeensLawMadeMind

Famous Lee Kuan Yew Quotes

“I started off believing all men were equal. I now know that's the most unlikely thing ever to have been, because millions of years have passed over evolution, people have scattered across the face of this earth, been isolated from each other, developed independently, had different intermixtures between races, peoples, climates, soils... I didn't start off with that knowledge. But by observation, reading, watching, arguing, asking, that is the conclusion I've come to.”

PeopleKnowsMenYearsBelieveHas BeensDifferentEarthFacesReadingRaceMillionsEvolutionEqualAskingClimateArguingConclusionObservationSoilIsolatedUnlikelySingapore
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“If it is not totalitarian to arrest a man and detain him, when you cannot charge him with any offence against any written law – if that is not what we have always cried out against in Fascist states – then what is it?… If we are to survive as a free democracy, then we must be prepared, in principle, to concede to our enemies – even those who do not subscribe to our views – as much constitutional rights as you concede yourself.”

IfsMenStatesLawViewsEnemyPrinciplesDemocracyRightsWrittenPreparedCriedBe PreparedFascistsSingaporeOffenceConstitutional Rights
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“But we either believe in democracy or we don't. If we do, then, we must say categorically, without qualification, that no restraint from the any democratic processes, other than by the ordinary law of the land, should be allowed. If you believe in democracy, you must believe in it unconditionally. If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication. Then, no law should permit those democratic processes to be set at nought.”

IfsMenShouldBelieveLawProcessDemocracyLandSpeechOrdinaryShould HaveDemocraticPermitAssociationFree SpeechRestraintIf You BelievePublicationSingaporeQualificationsDemocratic Process
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“We have over a hundred political detainees, men against whom we are unable to prove anything in a court of law. Nearly 50 of them are men who gave us a great deal of anxiety during the years of Confrontation because they were Malay extremists. Your life and this dinner would not be what it is if my colleagues and I had decided to play it according to the rules of the game.”

IfsMenYearsPlayLawPoliticalGamesDealsProveAnxietyHundredDecidedCourtDinnerColleaguesConfrontationExtremistSingaporeRules Of The GameDetainees
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“My colleagues and I are of that generation of young men who went through the Second World War and the Japanese Occupation and emerged determined that no one–neither Japanese nor British–had the right to push and kick us around. We determined that we could govern ourselves and bring up our children in a country where we can be proud to be self-respecting people.”

PeopleMenWorldChildrenWarSelfCountryYoungGenerationsProudOur ChildrenBritishDeterminedYoung ManWar Of The WorldsKicksOccupationColleaguesBe ProudSecond World WarSingapore
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image