Lee Kuan Yew - Life Quotes

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Supposing I'm now 21, 22, what would I do? I would not be absorbed in wanting to change life in Singapore. I'm not responsible for Singapore... Why should I go and undertake this job and spend my whole life pushing this for a lot of people for whom nothing is good enough? I will have a fall-back position, which many are doing - have a house in Perth or Vancouver or Sydney, or an apartment in London, in case I need some place suddenly, and think about whether I go on to America.

Lee Kuan Yew
Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him. Or give it up. This is not a game of cards! This is your life and mine! I've spent a whole lifetime building this and as long as I'm in charge, nobody is going to knock it down.

Lee Kuan Yew
The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to do with culture. The whites score on average 100. Asians score more … the Bell curve authors put it at least 10 points higher. These are realities that, if you do not accept, will lead to frustration because you will be spending money on wrong assumptions and the results cannot follow.

Lee Kuan Yew
How do I comfort myself? Well, I say, 'Life is just like that.'

Lee Kuan Yew
I'm dead by then. There'll be different voices, different standpoints, but I stand by my record. I did some sharp and hard things to get things right. Maybe some people disapproved of it. Too harsh, but a lot was at stake and I wanted the place to succeed, that's all. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life.

Lee Kuan Yew
For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I believed in merger and unity of the two territories.

Lee Kuan Yew
So, when is the last leaf falling? I can feel the gradual decline of energy and vitality. And I mean generally, every year, when you know you are not on the same level as last year. But that's life.

Lee Kuan Yew
I have been accused of many things in my life, but not even my worst enemy has ever accused me of being afraid to speak my mind.

Lee Kuan Yew