175 Interesting Quotes By Vladimir Putin That Will Blow Your Mind

Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.

  

Sometimes it is necessary to be lonely in order to prove that you are right.

  

We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.

  

One has to be insincere and promise something which you cannot fulfill. So you either have to be a fool who does not understand what you are promising, or deliberately be lying.

  

Terrorism has no nationality or religion.

  

We need business to understand its social responsibility, that the main task and objective for a business is not to generate extra income and to become rich and transfer the money abroad, but to look and evaluate what a businessman has done for the country, for the people, on whose account he or she has become so rich.

  

He who does not regret the break-up of the Soviet Union has no heart; he who wants to revive it in its previous form has no head.

  

The centuries-old history and culture of India, majestic architectural monuments and museums of Delhi, Agra and Mumbai have a unique attractive force.

Culture

  

Those who fight corruption should be clean themselves.

  

My English is very bad.

  

I don't read books by people who have betrayed the Motherland.

  

The ability to compromise is not a diplomatic politeness toward a partner but rather taking into account and respecting your partner's legitimate interests.

  

It's a historical phenomenon that in 250 years, a nation could move from a colony into the most prosperous nation of the world and the leader of the world. It is indeed an achievement, a tribute to the talent of the American nation, the American people and an optimal political and economic system.

  

The Russian people have unilaterally made their choice in direction of democracy in the early '90s. They will not be led astray. Nobody should be having any doubts.

  

In the modern world, those who are weak will get unambiguous advice from foreign visitors which way to go and what policy course to pursue.

  

If the nation is not capable of preserving itself and reproducing, if it loses it vital bearings and ideals, then it doesn't need foreign enemies - it will fall apart on its own.

  

I believe that the presidential term should be limited.

  

Everything will probably never be OK. But we have to try for it.

  

I see that not everyone in the West has understood that the Soviet Union has disappeared from the political map of the world and that a new country has emerged with new humanist and ideological principles at the foundation of its existence.

  

Libya is divided into tribes and clans.

  

My parents told me that children were taken from their families in 1941, and my mother had a child taken from her - with the goal of saving him.

  

Russian democracy is the power of the Russian people with their own traditions of national self-government, and not the realisation of standards foisted on us from outside.

  

Russia does not and cannot have any political choice but democracy. I want to say, and even stress, that we share those universal democratic principles taken around the whole world.

  

Iraq is a small but very proud nation.

  

I think the American people should express their preferences, and we'll accept their choice.

Think

  

I think every person should have some faith inside him, in his heart. What matters is not an external display of this faith, but the inner state of the soul.

  

How does one control weight? By not overeating. How does one stay in shape? One plays sports. There are no magic pills here.

  

I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.

Life

  

You must obey the law, always, not only when they grab you by your special place.

  

I have always loved and avidly read the novels of Jack London, Jules Verne and Ernest Hemingway. The characters depicted in their books, who are brave and resourceful people embarking on exciting adventures, definitely shaped my inner self and nourished my love for the outdoors.

  

NATO was built to counteract the Soviet Union in its day and time. At this point there is no threat coming from the Soviet Union, because there is no Soviet Union anymore. And where there was the Soviet Union once, there is now a number of countries, among them the new and democratic Russia.

Time

  

I have a very positive attitude to anyone who is protecting the environment, but it's inadmissible when people are using it as a means of promoting themselves, using it as a source of self-enrichment. I don't want to name any specific examples... but often, environmentalism is used to blackmail companies.

  

Indeed, Russia and the U.S. were allies during the two tragic conflicts of the Second and the First World Wars, which allows us to think there's something objectively bringing us together in difficult times, and I think - I believe - it has to do with geopolitical interests and also has a moral component.

Together

  

I have never stated Russia is an energy superpower, but we have more reserves than almost anybody else. We have always behaved, and we will continue to behave, in a responsible way. We intend to participate in the elaboration of common rules in the energy sector and to abide by rules which are developed together.

Together

  

The growing economic potential of India and Russia is mutually complementary in many respects.

  

The leaders of the world's largest economies agreed during the November 2008 G20 summit not to create barriers hindering global trade and capital flows. Russia shares these principles.

  

China has created very good investment tools, including an entire network of very large funds. The Russian Private Investment Fund works with some of those funds, with China's largest investment funds.

  

The United States and Russian security services regularly exchange information.

  

Russia and China are very natural partners. We are neighbors with an immense common border.

  

If you aspire to be a leader of your own country, you must speak your own language, for God's sake.

  

Back in the mid-18th century, in 1745-1747, Ossetia was the first to become part of the Russian Empire. At that time, it was a united entity; North and South Ossetia were one state.

Time

  

No one should be allowed to violently trample on the law.

  

The Russian parliament has condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

  

Demographers affirm that choosing to have a second child is already a potential choice in favour of a third.

  

When the States already had nuclear weapons, and the Soviet Union was only building them, we got a significant amount of information through Soviet foreign intelligence channels.

  

The more intermediaries there are, the more problems there are.

  

I spend a little time every day to play sports.

Time

  

In almost any country, probably in Russia in particular, it's fashionable to criticise people in power. If you come out in support of someone like me, you're going to be accused of trying to ingratiate yourself.

Yourself

  

The Russian people have their own cultural code, their own tradition.

Tradition

  

If there are people who act outside the law, then the state must use legal means to impose law in the interests of majority. That's the way it's done in the U.S., and that's the way it's done in Russia.

  

It's Russia some people would like to get rid of. They are still afraid of our nuclear deterrent. We have our own foreign policy whether they like it or not.

  

McCain fought in Vietnam - I think that he has enough civilian blood on his hands.

Think

  

U.S. society doesn't want to play the role of international policeman.

  

As far as oligarchs who acquire sports team abroad, and invest money abroad, I wouldn't treat this phenomenon as something bad.

  

Protest actions and propaganda are two slightly different things.

  

The state security bodies should not be seen as an institution that works against society and the state; one needs to understand what makes them work against their own people.

  

Some experts believe that somebody is deceiving WikiLeaks, that its reputation is being undermined in order for it to be used for political purposes.

  

For Russia, there is not and there may not be another political option but democracy. However, Russian democracy is... not at all the realization of standards imposed on us from outside.

  

How can a bureaucrat or a politician be trusted if he says loud words for the sake of Russia's good while trying to take his funds, his money abroad?

  

I'm sure corruption in Chechnya is minimal.

  

If one looks at the map of the world, it's difficult to find Iraq, and one would think it rather easy to subdue such a small country.

  

Radicals can be found in any environment.

  

I believe the U.S. already understands and will understand more and more that only a strong Russia will respond to the genuine interests of the United States.

  

Political activities in Russia should be as transparent as possible. Financing political activities from abroad is something the state should keep an eye on.

  

The path towards a free society has not been simple. There are tragic and glorious pages in our history.

  

The democratic choice Russian people made in the early 90's is final.

  

What is a uni-polar world? No matter how we beautify this term, it means one single centre of power, one single centre of force and one single master.

  

My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this.

Relationship

  

Russia does not want confrontation of any kind. And we will not take part in any kind of 'holy alliance.'

  

All attempts to appease the Nazis between 1934 and 1939 through various agreements and pacts were morally unacceptable and politically senseless, harmful and dangerous.

  

I am convinced that the norm in Russia should become a family with three children.

Family

  

My personal position is that society must keep children safe.

  

At a certain point, we saw the police cracking down on the Occupy Wall Street activists. I won't call the actions of police appropriate or inappropriate.

  

Despite all the achievements of civilisation, the human being is still one of the most vulnerable creatures on earth.

  

Economic activity is moving from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean... Russia has a certain natural advantage because it also borders the Pacific Ocean.

  

I would prefer to abandon the terminology of the past. 'Superpower' is something which we used during the cold war time. Why use it now?

Past , Time

  

Chechnya is part and parcel of the Russian Federation.

  

We don't need a weakened government but a strong government that would take responsibility for the rights of the individual and care for the society as a whole.

  

To pay more is the easy way. In fact, the solution possibilities to the problem are many.

  

The unjustified swelling of the budgetary deficit and the accumulation of public debts are just as destructive as adventurous stock-jobbing.

  

Between major countries, there certainly always are some common ground and points of tension.

  

Any people has a right to self-determination, and now in Europe the process of diluting national sovereignty in the framework of a united Europe is more accepted.

  

Thieves must sit in prison.

  

Yes, life in Chechnya so far looks more like a life after a natural disaster.

Life , Like

  

Russia is opposed to the proliferation of mass destruction weapons, including nuclear weapons, and in this context we call upon our Iranian friends to abandon the uranium enrichment programme.

  

Cromwell is just as much of a bloody dictator as was Stalin.

  

What is a Rechtsstaat? It is obedience to the existing law.

  

Few people understand the magnitude of the catastrophe that happened late in the 1980s when the Communist Party had failed to modernize the Soviet Union.

  

A considerable share of the world's population still cannot afford comfortable housing, education and quality health care.

  

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in Russia, unlike in one third of the world's countries, being gay is not a crime.

  

You need to put drones under control; you need to lay out certain rules of engagement in order to prevent or minimize collateral casualties. It is extremely important.

  

I was brought up in a very ordinary family, in fact, a worker's family. Both my father and mother were ordinary citizens.

Family

  

No references to the need to fight terror can be an argument for restricting human rights.

  

Our society, including the liberals, must understand that there must be order.

  

The Russian people and Russian culture are the linchpin, the glue that binds together this unique civilization.

Culture , Together

  

In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the issues of foreign policy and defense are fully in the hands of the president.

  

At last, Russia has returned to the world arena as a strong state - a country that others heed and that can stand up for itself.

  

I am not prejudiced in any way.

  

One can truly enjoy his or her life only while experiencing it, and it is inevitably related to a certain level of risk.

Life

  

The whole world recognizes Russia's cultural achievements. It is impossible to imagine the world culture without Russian culture, without our music and literature.

Culture , Music