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I started off believing all men were equal. I now know that's the most unlikely thing ever to have been... But by observation, reading, watching, arguing, asking, that is the conclusion I've come to.

Lee Kuan Yew

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Lee Kuan Yew
Age: 91 †
Born: 1923
Born: September 16
Died: 2015
Died: March 23
Autobiographer
Lawyer
Philosopher
Politician
Singaporean Politician
Statesperson
Republic of Singapore
LKY
Harry Lee
MM Lee
Li Guangyao
Believe
Watching
Way
Asking
Men
Equal
Bullying
Started
Unlikely
Reading
Believing
Ever
Arguing
Come
Observation
Thing
Conclusion

More quotes by Lee Kuan Yew

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You take a poll of any people. What is it they want? The right to write an editorial as you like? They want homes, medicine, jobs, schools.
Lee Kuan Yew
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One-man-one-vote is a most difficult form of government.. Results can be erratic.
Lee Kuan Yew
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Now if democracy will not work for the Russians, a white Christian people, can we assume that it will naturally work with Asians?
Lee Kuan Yew
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I think in Singapore, we stand a chance of making the one-man-one-vote system work. With amendments as we have done, you know, like GRCs.. We need to make it work. And I believe with pragmatic adjustments, given these favourable conditions, we can have more open debate.
Lee Kuan Yew
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At the end of the day, what I cherish most are the human relationships. With the unfailing support of my wife and partner I have lived my life to the fullest. It is the friendships I made and the close family ties I nurtured that have provided me with that sense of satisfaction at a life well lived, and have made me what I am.
Lee Kuan Yew
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I was a product of the times, the war, the occupation, the reoccupation, my 4 years in Britain, admiring but at the same time questioning whether they are able to do a better job than we can.
Lee Kuan Yew
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I wouldn't call myself an atheist. I neither deny nor accept that there is a God... So I do not laugh at people who believe in God. But I do not necessarily believe in God - nor deny that there could be one.
Lee Kuan Yew
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If Aljunied decides to go that way, well Aljunied has five years to live and repent.
Lee Kuan Yew
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I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today.
Lee Kuan Yew
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I always tried to be correct, not politically correct.
Lee Kuan Yew
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We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.
Lee Kuan Yew
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If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana.
Lee Kuan Yew
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For reasons of sentiment, I would like part of my ashes to be mixed up with Mama's, and both her ashes and mine put side by side in the columbarium. We were joined in life and I would like our ashes to be joined after this life.
Lee Kuan Yew
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I don't think I made a conscious decision as a career choice. From my school days I had decided, persuaded by my parents, to prepare myself for the law. Then the Japanese occupation came and we went through three and a half years of what I would call the university of life, it was hard, it was harsh.
Lee Kuan Yew
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Rest on laurels? I wish I could do that. No, you rest when you're dead
Lee Kuan Yew
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I ignore polling as a method of government. I think that shows a certain weakness of mind - an inability to chart a course whichever way the wind blows, whichever way the media encourages the people to go, you follow. If you can't force or are unwilling to force your people to follow you, with or without threats, you are not a leader.
Lee Kuan Yew
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I’m not interested in changing either my suit or my car or whatever with every change in fashion. That’s irrelevant. I don’t judge myself or my friends by their fashions. Of course, I don’t approve of people who are sloppy and unnecessarily shabby or dishevelled… But I’m not impressed by a US$5,000 or US$10,000 Armani suit.
Lee Kuan Yew
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Freedom of the press, freedom of the news media, must be subordinated to the overriding needs of the integrity of Singapore, and to the primacy of purpose of an elected government.
Lee Kuan Yew
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Nine holes of golf will take you one-and-a-half, two hours. I run in 20 minutes, I feel better off. So the cost benefit made me drop golf.
Lee Kuan Yew
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Without the elected president and if there is a freak result, within two or three years, the army would have to come in and stop it.
Lee Kuan Yew