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Mikhail Gorbachev Quotes

Former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, born on March 2, 1931, was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He is a significant figure in Soviet history, known for his reform policies of 'New Thinking' and for ending the Cold War.

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Famous Mikhail Gorbachev Quotes

“I find it difficult to say whether the leadership's 'second echelon' could have preserved the German Democratic Republic. Helmut Kohl later told me he had never believed that Egon Krenz was capable of getting the situation under control. I do not know — we are all wiser after the event, as the saying goes. For my part, I must admit I briefly had a faint hope that the new leaders would be able to change the course of events by establishing a new type of relations between the two German states — based on radical domestic reforms in East Germany.”

Cold War East Germany German Reunification

Book:Memoirs

Source: Memoirs

“The world's deteriorating ecology poses as great a danger to mankind today as did the nuclear standoff between the superpowers at the height of the Cold War.”

World War Today Mankind Danger Cold Nuclear Height Ecology Cold War Superpower Deteriorating Standoffs

Author:Mikhail Gorbachev

“Without perestroika, the cold war simply would not have ended. But the world could not continue developing as it had, with the stark menace of nuclear war ever present.”

World War Cold Nuclear Developing Cold War Menace Starks Nuclear War

Author:Mikhail Gorbachev

“The threat of a world war is no more.”

World War Cold Threat War Of The Worlds World War I Cold War

Author:Mikhail Gorbachev

“We had 10 years after the Cold War to build a new world order and yet we squandered them. The United States cannot tolerate anyone acting independently. Every US president has to have a war.”

World Years War States Order President United Acting United States Cold New World Tolerate Cold War New World Order World Order Us President

Author:Mikhail Gorbachev

“The soviet people want full-blooded and unconditional democracy.”

People Want Democracy Unconditional Love Soviet Cold War Unconditional

Author:Mikhail Gorbachev

“Our rockets can find Halley's comet, and fly to Venus with amazing accuracy, but side by side with these scientific and technical triumphs is an obvious lack of efficiency in using scientific achievements for economic needs. Many Soviet household appliances are of poor quality.”

Source: Perestroika: how new is Gorbachev's new thinking? : Mikhail Gorbachev's views and responses from Zbigniew Brezinski ... [and others]

“The social model of the Bolsheviks failed, as will any model that denies individual rights, intellectual freedom, and freedom of competing political parties. Without these freedoms and rights, there is no motivation for people to work. Such a system cannot be sustained, especially in light of the technological revolution of the information era.”