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’m not interested in changing either my suit or my car or whatever with every change in fashion. That’s irrelevant. I don’t judge myself or my friends by their fashions. Of course, I don’t approve of people who are sloppy and unnecessarily shabby or dishevelled… But I’m not impressed by a US$5,000 or US$10,000 Armani suit.”

PeopleCoursesFashionCarJudgingMy FriendsSuitsNot InterestedImpressedIrrelevantSingaporeSloppyShabbyNot ImpressedArmani
Book:The Wit & Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“It’s irrelevant to me what young Singaporeans think of me. What they think of me after I’m dead and gone in one generation will be determined by researchers who do PhDs on me, right? So there will be a lot of revisionism. As people revised Stalin, Brezhnev and one day now Yeltsin, and later on Putin. I’ve lived long enough to know that you may be idealised in life and reviled after you’re dead.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsMayLongEnoughYoungGoneGenerationsOne DayDeterminedIrrelevantPutinResearchersThink Of MeHard TruthsPhdsRevisionismBrezhnev
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.”

PeopleIfsThinkingMindMadeMatterDoneUseTodayLanguageProgressEconomicCitizensNoiseInterfereRemorseAccusedPrivate LifeNeighbourSpitSingaporeEconomic ProgressPersonal Matter
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“I ignore polling as a method of government. I think that shows a certain weakness of mind - an inability to chart a course whichever way the wind blows, whichever way the media encourages the people to go, you follow. If you can't force or are unwilling to force your people to follow you, with or without threats, you are not a leader.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWayMindShowsGovernmentCertainCoursesForceLeaderMediaWindWeaknessMethodThreatBlowInabilityUnwillingPolling
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“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

“You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government. You get that alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again: Humpty Dumpty cannot be put together again... my asset values will disappear, my apartments will be worth a fraction of what they were, my ministers' jobs will be in peril, their security will be at risk and their women will become maids in other people's countries, foreign workers.”

PeopleKnowsCountryGovernmentTogetherJobsValuesRiskSecurityWorkersDisappearCuresAlternativesAssetsApartmentPerilFractionsDoseMaidsSingaporeIncompetentTogether AgainHumpty Dumpty
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

“The ideas of individual supremacy and the right of free expression, when carried to excess, have not worked. They have made it difficult to keep America society cohesive. Asia can see it is not working.. In America itself, there is widespread crime and violence, old people feel forgotten, families are falling apart. And the media attacks the integrity and character of your leaders with impunity, drags down all those in authority and blames everyone but itself.”

PeopleFeelsMadeIdeasCharacterAmericaFallIndividualDifficultLeaderViolenceMediaCrimeExpressionIntegrityAuthorityBlameForgottenMade ItExcessDragAsiaOld PeopleFalling ApartSingaporeSupremacyImpunityFree ExpressionIntegrity And Character
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“It is essential to rear a generation at the very top of society that has all the qualities needed to lead and give the people the inspiration and the drive to make it succeed. In short, the elite.. Every society tries to produce this type. The British have special schools for them: the gifted and talented are sent to Eton and Harrow.”

PeopleGivingTryingInspirationSchoolQualityGenerationsSpecialProduceTypeNeededSucceedEssentialsBritishElitesGiftedSingaporeEton
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“You’re talking about Rwanda or Bangladesh, or Cambodia, or the Philippines. They’ve got democracy, according to Freedom House. But have you got a civilised life to lead? People want economic development first and foremost. The leaders may talk something else. You take a poll of any people. What is it they want? The right to write an editorial as you like? They want homes, medicine, jobs, schools.”

PeopleWantWritingFirstsMayHomeSchoolJobsHouseTalkingLeaderDemocracyEconomicDevelopmentMedicinePollsPhilippinesEditorialsEconomic DevelopmentBangladeshCivilisedRwandaCambodia
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image

“They say people can think for themselves? Do you honestly believe that the chap who can’t pass primary six knows the consequence of his choice when he answers a question viscerally, on language, culture and religion? But we knew the consequences. We would starve, we would have race riots. We would disintegrate.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsBelieveChoicesCultureLanguageAnswersRaceSixConsequenceHonestlyPrimariesRiotChapsLanguage CultureCulture And ReligionRace Riots
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
Create image