Vladimir Putin

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.

I have some rules of my own. One of them is never to regret anything. Over time, I came to the conclusion that this was the right thing to do. As soon as you start regretting and looking back, you start to sour. You always have to think about the future. You always have to look ahead. Of course you have to analyze your past mistakes, but only so that you can learn and correct the course of your life.

Stalin is the most popular figure in all of Russia.

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.

Hitler wanted to destroy Russia- everyone needs to remember how that ended

Where in the world have you seen construction people who do everything on time, with good quality and at minimal prices? Just give me one country like that. A country like that doesn’t exist in the world, you know. There’s not one such country anywhere in the world.

Foolproof systems don’t take into account the ingenuity of fools.

Old guys can still do fun things.

We’re so afraid of each other… Colour, wealth, these things that don’t really matter still play too much of a role in how we see one another. And it’s sad, because the thing that least defines us is the colour of our skin.

You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. There’s nothing to that.

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

Everything in life I’ve worked hard for; what makes you think I’d do you different?

Life is a marathon, it’s not a sprint.

All life is experience, and one level is exchanged for another only when its lesson is learned.

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

You almost never get the pleasure of seeing that you won the argument in real time. People just don’t like to publicly change their minds. They change their minds in private.

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

When I was a little girl, I so wanted to be sociable, but I was scared that I wasn’t going to be able to speak a sentence because I had such a bad stammer.

Power begins with having a crystal-clear view of reality and what each and every person in your life is driven by.

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.