Mikhail Gorbachev

done yesterday looks big today

"If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven't done much today."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

puzzling politics Western Europe recreate Soviet Union EU USSR

"The most puzzling development in politics during the last decade is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in Western Europe."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

cosmos nature god sacred tree forest

"I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals. Being at one with nature."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

Cold War 10 years new world order USA independence war

"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."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

market capitalism invention civilization

"The market is not an invention of capitalism. It has existed for centuries. It is an invention of civilization."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

history time ripe change government decay revolution

"History teaches us, however, that when the times are ripe for change and the government refuses or is unable to change, either society starts to decay or a revolution begins."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

environmental crisis disaster New World Order

"The threat of environmental crisis is the 'international disaster key' to unlock the New World Order."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

peace unity similarity diversity conciliation difference

"Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

me who now when

"If not me, who? And if not now, when?"

—Mikhail Gorbachev

world problem population poverty environmental crisis

"The problem the world faces today is that only one-third of the world's population lives in decent circumstances, while half the population of the world lives on one or two dollars a day. And even as we have this poverty and backwardness, we are facing a global environmental crisis. We need developmental models that will take into account the specific and unique position of each country and at the same time will address the environmental crisis."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

recognize guest master nature development consumerism

"We desperately need to recognise that we are the guests, not the masters, of nature and adopt a new paradigm for development, based on the costs and benefits to all people, and bound by the limits of nature herself rather than the limits of technology and consumerism."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

social model bolshevik failure individual right freedom

"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."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

New World Order required climate change crisis

"A New World Order is required to deal with the Climate Change crisis."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

values organic unity humankind nature global responsibility

"We need a new system of values, a system of the organic unity between humankind and nature and the ethic of global responsibility."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

women thread life fine mind peacemaking

"Women prevent the threads of life from being broken. The finest minds have always understood the peacemaking role of women."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)

USA United States sickness winner's complex

"I think the United States is sick. It suffers from the sickness, the disease of being the victor and it needs to cure itself from this disease."

"Americans have a severe disease - worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex."

—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022)