Selected Quotes

"It is not for me to say whether I have succeeded or not. The people and history will judge and determine whether my service was good or bad."
- UMNO General Assembly, 2003

"All things being equal, a country's development is dependent on the quality of its people. That is why some countries and some people do well while others despite their rich resources fail."

Malaysia has gone through three great crises since the second world war. We have bounced back twice. We will bounce back again, God Willing.
- World Economic Forum, 1999

"Wawasan 2020 was what our people, deep in their hearts, had always wanted. It articulated the best aspirations of our citizens. It is in harmony with the best traditions of our very Malaysian way of life. It said what needed to be said. It laid to rest the gremlins that lurked within the darkest corridors of our history. It settled many of the unresolved issues of the past. It took from our backs some very heavy baggage of history which had greatly hindered us in the past."
- National Congress Vision 2020, 1997

"If you don't know how to ride a horse, you will fall off. I have fallen off a horse three times. But to get the balance, to be in rhythm with the animal and all that is something that you can achieve only if you learn. I had to learn about finance."
- Putrajaya, 2003

"No wealthy developed country that is information poor and no information-rich society that is poor and undeveloped."
- Second World Knowledge Conference, 2000

"Knowledge has always been important, of course. The ancient Egyptians did not raise the stones for the pyramids relying on the incantations of their gods. The waters in the irrigation canals of the great Indus Civilisation did not flow according to the laws of ignorance. Knowledge has always been power and wealth."
- Second World Knowledge Conference, 2000

"The fact is that in order to forecast the future we have to look into the past. Not only will the past influence the future but what happens in the past will help indicate the possible trend of events in the future."
- London, 2000

"History is a great teacher which can help us create a better world. But unfortunately the lessons of history are often ignored, sometimes deliberately. And because we ignore the lessons of history we keep on repeating the mistakes of the past and we suffer accordingly."
- International Association of Historians of Asia, 2000