Lee Kuan Yew

life process change struggle better

“I believe that life is a process of continuous change and a constant struggle to make that change one for the better.”

― Kuan Yew Lee (1923-2015)

society successful maturing excellence improve average

“A society to be successful must maintain a balance between nurturing excellence and encouraging the average to improve.”

― Kuan Yew Lee (1923-2015)

nation great size cohesion stamina discipline quality leader

“A nation is great not by its size alone. It is the will, the cohesion, the stamina, the discipline of its people and the quality of their leaders which ensure it an honourable place in history.”

― Kuan Yew Lee (1923-2015)

task leader provide learn work reward

“The task of the leaders must be to provide or create for them a strong framework within which they can learn, work hard, be productive and be rewarded accordingly. And this is not easy to achieve.”

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

individual performance leader herd capacity stamina cohesiveness

"It is not the individual performance that counts. Of this, I'm quite certain. You can have a great leader, you know. If the herd hasn't got it in it, you can't make the grade. The herd must have the capacity, stamina, sufficient social cohesiveness to survive."

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

democracy election educate equal job opportunity

"A free and fair election is not the best first step to nurture a democracy in a country that has no history or tradition of government. Without adequate preparations elections will allow people to vent their frustrations against the corruption and inadequacies of the incumbents and vote in the opposition. That led to Hamas gaining power in Palestine. A better start would be to educate the young, especially their women, and give them equal job opportunities."

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

democracy election vote TV entertainer government leader

"The problem now is to work the system one man, one vote when we have to get quality leadership to the top. If we leave it to natural processes it will be a contest on television performance as in the West. And the best television performers and rally entertainer are not necessarily the best leaders wo can deliver good government"

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

leader leadership course

"I do not yet know of a man who became leader as a result of having undergone a leadership course"

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

country democracy honest effective government election

"In new countries, democracy worked and produced results only when there is an honest and effective government. Remember, elected governments are only as good as the people who choose them"

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

speech leader nation ghost-writer minister

"No resounding ghostwritten speech can have the ring of conviction and sincerity of the words from a Minister who has felt his own problems deeply and thought them through to their solutions. In several established countries, average leaders have managed to get by with superb staff back-up. But each time they go to summit meetings to encounter strong and able leaders of other nations, their inadequacies show up, painfully and alarmingly. "

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

press baron newspaper

"In 1977, we passed laws to prohibit any person from holding more than 3 per cent of the ordinary stocks of a newspaper [...] I do not subscribe to the Western practice that allows a wealthy press baron to decide what voters should read day after day"

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

inequality wealth revolution insurgency

"What happened in Vietnam is a precursor of what will happen in other parts of the world unless countries within themselves can eradicate or lessen the tensions whivh internal inequalities, gross odious inequalities of wealth and opportunity generate into hatred and bitterness and finally insurgency and revolution"

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

people neighbour leader

"No people like to be told by their neighbours, particularly a smaller one, what to do about their leaders"

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

friend enemy name

"We want the maximum number of friends and the minimum number of enemies, and naming anybody as an enemy is the surest way to make him your enemy"

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

world safer invade punish reward

"The worlds can become a safer place only when an aggressor who invades another, especially a weaker country, is punished, not rewarded."

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

Wealth poverty relative tension rich dissatisfaction

"Wealth and poverty are relative things. You have acute tensions, either within a society or internationally within an international community, not so much because you are too poor as against another person or you are too rich, in the absolute sense, but whether you are relatively too much better off than the other to cause the other fellow dissatisfaction."

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

innovation technology people creativity

"The key to innovation and technology is people. We must develop and nurture our talent so that innovation and creativity will be integral to education and training. Our education system is being revamped to nurture innovation and creativity, from kindergarten to university, and on to lifelong learning. Equally important, we will tap foreign talent, by making Singapore a more attractive place to live in."

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

nation technological advantage

"Let us recognize that no nation in the world world ever gives away a technolkogical advantage for reasons of charity."

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

quality manpower nation competitivenessinnovation ethic

"The quality of a nation's manpower resources is the single most important factor determining national competitiveness. It is the people's innovativeness, entrepreneurship, teamwork and their work ethic that give them that sharp keen edge in competitiveness."

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

essential higher learning academic freedom

"It is essential for an institution of higher education that there should be absolute academic freedom. This includes the freedom to discuss any political subject and to adopt any political attitude, within the confines of that academic institution."

― Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)