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" It is better to discuss things, to argue and engage in polemics than make perfidious plans of mutual destruction. "

Mikhail Gorbachev

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" On the day I became Soviet leader, in March 1985, I had a special meeting with the leaders of the Warsaw Pact countries and told them: 'You are independent, and we are independent. You are responsible for your policies, we are responsible for ours. We will not intervene in your affairs, I promise you.' "

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" I couldn't wait to get to the most powerful position, because I thought then I would be able to fix problems that only the leader can fix. But when I got there, I realized we needed revolutionary change. "

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" Political leaders still think things can be done through force, but that cannot solve terrorism. Backwardness is the breeding ground of terror, and that is what we have to fight. "

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" Imagine a country that flies into space, launches Sputniks, creates such a defense system, and it can't resolve the problem of women's pantyhose. There's no toothpaste, no soap powder, not the basic necessities of life. It was incredible and humiliating to work in such a government. "

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" I am a Communist, a convinced Communist! For some that may be a fantasy. But to me it is my main goal. "

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

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" It seems that the most important thing about Reagan was his anti-Communism and his reputation as a hawk who saw the Soviet Union as an 'evil empire.' "

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" We could only solve our problems by cooperating with other countries. It would have been paradoxical not to cooperate. And therefore we needed to put an end to the Iron Curtain, to change the nature of international relations, to rid them of ideological confrontation, and particularly to end the arms race. "

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" What we need is Star Peace and not Star Wars. "

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" Ex-Presidents of the United States get state subsidies. Not so in Russia. You get no government support. "

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" Democracy must learn to defend itself. "

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" Every country should conduct its own reforms, should develop its own model, taking into account the experience of other countries, whether close neighbours or far away countries. "

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

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" I grew up in a family of peasants, and it was there that I saw the way that, for example, our wheat fields suffered as a result of dust storms, water erosion and wind erosion; I saw the effect of that on life - on human life. "

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" It would be naive to think that the problems plaguing mankind today can be solved with means and methods which were applied or seemed to work in the past. "

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" I believe, as Lenin said, that this revolutionary chaos may yet crystallize into new forms of life. "

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" Without perestroika, the cold war simply would not have ended. But the world could not continue developing as it had, with the stark menace of nuclear war ever present. "

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" Certain people in the United States are driving nails into this structure of our relationship, then cutting off the heads. So the Soviets must use their teeth to pull them out. "

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

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" I don't think Russia is setting this as a goal; I don't think this should be Russia's goal. I think even the United States doesn't need to be a superpower. China doesn't need to be a superpower. It's a different world. "

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" My life's work has been accomplished. I did all that I could. "

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