Shimon Peres Quotes & Sayings

That was my first lesson from Ben-Gurion. Then I saw him making peace, and I saw him making war. He mobilized me before the war. The man was a very rare combination between a real intellectual and a born leader. There is a contradiction between the two. — Shimon Peres

And this would normalize the existence of the Israeli and the Jew: a majority of Jews in the Land of Israel and a majority of Israelis among the Jewish People. — Shimon Peres

I don't think for example that the Indians look at [ what is right and whats wrong ] that way [the Palestinians do]. There are a billion, 200 million people in that part of the world. Why? They suffer from terror. People that do not suffer from it don't understand what I'm talking about, you know? — Shimon Peres

In every war, there are always elements of blindness. — Shimon Peres

There is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary. — Shimon Peres

He taught me literature, and he actually taught me how to read. He was my personal mentor. — Shimon Peres

They thought that I was a man with reasonable judgment, so I was never under pressure from my parents; I could do whatever I wanted. I never had a negative word from them, nothing whatsoever. — Shimon Peres

There are two things that cannot be achieved in life unless you close your eyes a little bit. And that's love and peace. If you want perfection you won't obtain either of them. — Shimon Peres

I think peace should be done not only among governments but among people. It was impossible before the Facebook. — Shimon Peres

I worked with a group of people who argued day and night - professors, officials, the Minister of Finance - but there were decisions that I had to make. — Shimon Peres

It's a morality that keeps humans human. — Shimon Peres

[Hamas] thought that if you go to elections you become a democrat for the rest of your life. They think that democracy is limited to one day in four years. — Shimon Peres

If world is suspicious that Israel may detonate nuclear bomb and if the suspicion is a deterrent - that's good enough. — Shimon Peres

Israel has its attractions. It's the most dramatic country in the world. Everybody's engaged. Everybody argues. When I leave Israel, I get a little bit bored, you know? — Shimon Peres

We checked carefully the international law - what does a nation do when terrorists are using civilians to defend their life, as a shelter. And they say you do not have a choice. — Shimon Peres

We had a lot of support - don't give me "the world", just the televisions. In America we enjoy support,China is neutral, India is for, in Europe they're divided. — Shimon Peres

You know when civilization began? With the invention of the mirror. — Shimon Peres

What should be the future of Israel? Is the land the most important choice, and for that reason to keep the whole of the land at any cost, or to have a partition and build the Jewish state on part of the land? And the other part? — Shimon Peres

You can kill a thousand; you can bring an end to life; you cannot kill an idea. — Shimon Peres

For me, dreaming is simply being pragmatic. — Shimon Peres

To find a cause that's larger than yourself and then to give your life to it. — Shimon Peres

Israel was born under the British mandate. We learned from the British what democracy means, and how it behaves in a time of danger, war and terror. We thank Britain for introducing freedom and respect of human rights both in normal and demanding circumstances. — Shimon Peres

Look, Israel doesn't intend to introduce nuclear weapons, but if people are afraid that we have them, why not? It's a deterrent. — Shimon Peres

The older generation had greater respect for land than science. But we live in an age when science, more than soil, has become the provider of growth and abundance. Living just on the land creates loneliness in an age of globality. — Shimon Peres

The Holocaust is a great warning to us all. We shall never forget our sisters and brothers. We have to ensure it is not repeated and to ensure we never go back to the days when humans behaved as beasts. Forgetfulness is a menace, we must remember. — Shimon Peres

In the past, most wars were motivated by the idea of nationhood. Today, however, wars are incited above all using religion as an excuse. — Shimon Peres

From my earliest youth, I have known that while one is obliged to plan with care the stages of one's journey, one is entitled to dream, and keep dreaming, of its destination. — Shimon Peres

One of the most important branches of the Egyptian economy is tourism. No bikinis, no tourism. So they have to decide what to do. — Shimon Peres

Look, I worked with American Republican presidents and Democratic presidents, all of them, and each of them has shown a deep and profound friendship to Israel, you know? I can't remember anybody who was in that sense negative as far as Israel is concerned. — Shimon Peres

When you have two alternatives, the first thing you have to do is to look for the third that you didn't think about, that doesn't exist. — Shimon Peres

You're as young as your dreams, not as old as your calendar — Shimon Peres

In order to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear country you have to introduce a system of verification and inspection. — Shimon Peres

Television has made dictatorship impossible but democracy unbearable. — Shimon Peres

Bulgaria is a true friend of Israel, that stood up to save the Jewish people 70 years ago in Europe, and who stood by throughout the terror attack that took place in Burgas last July. — Shimon Peres

Israel welcomes the wind of change, and sees a window of opportunity. Democratic and science-based economies by nature desire peace. Israel does not want to be an island of affluence in an ocean of poverty. Improvements in our neighbours' lives mean improvements to the neighbourhood in which we live. — Shimon Peres

The uprising in Egypt was initiated by the young generation. The uprising achieved two things. One is it made the lives of dictators impossible. Today, if you are looking for a safe job, don't become a dictator. — Shimon Peres

The history of Israel is divided into two parts. One, under attack that we have had to defend ourselves. When you defend yourself your thinking is totally different from when you want to make peace. So under attack you behave like if you want a hawk, when peace comes you become a dove. — Shimon Peres

Iran is a great problem, but not necessarily a great country. In fact, I think it is a very weak country. — Shimon Peres

I don't know what is stronger or what is weaker.The whole language of strength and weaknesses is irrelevant,because when you use arms you do not use ballots, and public opinion is unimportant, and they shoot at their opponents. — Shimon Peres

The internet, Facebook and Twitter have created mass communications and social spaces that regimes cannot control. — Shimon Peres

Today, the people are governing the governments. And when they begin to talk to each other, they are surprised, they can be friends. Why should we hate each other? — Shimon Peres

Later on, there were some problems with our navy, so he made me the head of the navy - all things that I hardly knew anything about. I was basically an ignorant young man. — Shimon Peres

Israel's doors are open to collaboration with Bulgaria. — Shimon Peres

I don't think anybody who carries a rifle carries the future. Because I don't believe that you can really change the world by killing and shooting. You have the change it by creating and competing. — Shimon Peres

The Iranian regime suppresses its own people as well as others in the region. It prevents peace by sponsoring terror globally. With the ultimate weapon that it is deceptively developing, the regime aims to gain hegemony over the entire Middle East and hold the world's economy hostage. — Shimon Peres

Historic justice has been done by killing Saddam. — Shimon Peres

We should use our imagination more than our memory. — Shimon Peres

Polls are like perfume-nice to smell, dangerous to swallow — Shimon Peres

Look, we have existed for 4,000 years - 2,000 years in diaspora, in exile. Nobody in the Middle East speaks their original language but Israel. When we started 64 years ago, we were 650,000 people. So, you know, we are maybe swimming a little bit against the stream, but we continue to swim. — Shimon Peres

And in England there has always been something deeply pro-Arab, of course, not among all Englishmen, and anti-Israeli, in the establishment. They abstained in the 1947 UN partition resolution ... They maintained an arms embargo against us in the 1950s ... They always worked against us. They think the Arabs are the underdogs. — Shimon Peres

I will confine myself to reaffirming the Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the region. — Shimon Peres

In the Middle East, the conflict today is a matter of generations and not of cultures. — Shimon Peres

Bringing an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians may help the young Arab generation to realise their aspirations. Israel is more than willing to offer our experience in building a modern economy in spite of limited resources to the whole region. — Shimon Peres

Most of the Palestinians don't understand what they're doing.Politically, people can say what they want. The problem is not political, but religious. — Shimon Peres

I didn't plan to be a politician. The founder of our country, David Ben-Gurion, called me from the kibbutz to serve in the underground. We were short of manpower, short of arms. I was 24 years old. I was supposed to serve my country for one or two years. I am 89 years old this year, and I keep going. — Shimon Peres

Many Syrians understand that the only option that exists is the option of peace, which means the option of compromise, .. Nobody can have 100 percent of his desires. He must compromise. — Shimon Peres

Today, Israel is stronger than ever. Israel has defensive tools of its own - those developed in the past and those developed today and those that will be developed tomorrow. — Shimon Peres

Now, I learned soon enough, that among the three, two don't trust the third one - the third one is the government. Both industry and unions feel the government is a talking organization and a spending organization. — Shimon Peres

The foes now are universal - poverty, famine, religious radicalization, desertification, drugs, proliferation of nuclear weapons, ecological devastation. They threaten all nations, just as science and information are the potential friends of all nations. Classical diplomacy and strategy were aimed at identifying enemies and confronting them. Now they have to identify dangers, global or local, and tackle them before they become disasters. — Shimon Peres

There was one occasion when I was very young - eight years or seven years old - that Jewish businessmen went through the forest, and they were assassinated. And that was for the first time I saw in our paper where there were assassinations in our place. — Shimon Peres

He was the editor of our paper. He created the publishing house in Hebrew. He was - I wouldn't say the 'guru' - but really he was our teacher and a most respected man. I wrote for the paper of the youth movement. — Shimon Peres

Early in the morning, I fell in love with the girl that later on became my wife. At that time, we were so naive. I wanted to charm her, so I read her Capital by Marx. I thought somehow she would be convinced by the strength of his criticism about capital. — Shimon Peres

The most important thing in life is to dare. The most complicated thing in life is to be afraid. The smartest thing in the world is to try to be a moral person. — Shimon Peres

Israel is moving from the realm of poetry to the realm of prose. — Shimon Peres

If you have more dreams than achievements-you're young. — Shimon Peres

A solution of two national states - a Jewish state, Israel; an Arab state, Palestine. The Palestinians are our closest neighbors. I believe they may become our closest friends. — Shimon Peres

Optimists and pessimists die the exact same death, but they live very different lives! — Shimon Peres

[Palestinians] are becoming religiously fanatic. Israel is becoming irrelevant. They do it for religious purpose, fanatic, they want to conquer the Middle East under the command of the Iranians. — Shimon Peres

We have to take care about nature as much as nature is taking care about us. Nature is very kind with us. And if you want to enjoy the gifts of nature and the promises of nature, we have to defer to nature and its needs, its rules, its norms. — Shimon Peres

We asked the workers to give up 25 percent of their salaries. Imagine! We asked the industrialists to freeze all costs, no matter what the inflation is. — Shimon Peres

I call on the Iranian people: it is not too late to replace the corrupt regime and return to your glorious Persian heritage, a heritage of culture and values and not of bombs and missiles ... How can a nation allow a regime to instill fear, take away the people's freedom and shock the young generation that seeks its way out of the dictatorial Iran. — Shimon Peres

When I look at the record of President Obama concerning the major issue security I think it's a highly satisfactory record from Israeli point of view. — Shimon Peres

The Middle East is replete with both new and old threats. One should not underestimate these threats, but not be alarmed by them either. Israel is stronger today than ever. — Shimon Peres

The Middle East is ailing. The malady stems from pervasive violence, shortages of food, water and educational opportunities, discrimination against women and - the most virulent cause of all - the absence of freedom. — Shimon Peres

[Hamas] lives on their rifles and bombs. — Shimon Peres

If you eat three times a day you'll be fed but if you read three times a day you'll be wise. — Shimon Peres

The United States is the only power in history that became great by giving and not by taking. I think the crisis was when the United States had more money than ideas. Money doesn't produce money. Ideas produce money. — Shimon Peres

I believe that peace with the Palestinians is most urgent - urgent than ever before. It is necessary. It is crucial. It is possible. A delay may worsen its chances. Israel and the Palestinians are, in my judgment, ripe today to restart the peace process. — Shimon Peres

If I tax them, in fact, I'm not taxing the capitalists, I am taxing the people who have saved, trusted. It was very controversial, those sorts of things. But finally, it worked out. — Shimon Peres

If you eat three times a day, you become fat. If you read three times a day, you become wise. It's better to be wise than fat. — Shimon Peres

In Israel, a land lacking in natural resources, we learned to appreciate our greatest national advantage: our minds. Through creativity and innovation, we transformed barren deserts into flourishing fields and pioneered new frontiers in science and technology. — Shimon Peres

When it becomes a bloody reality, we have to come together and look at what can be done to return to the order of peace, ... There is no alternative to it. — Shimon Peres

If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time. — Shimon Peres

Until the Yom Kippur War, in 1973, until then Israel didn't have a chance but to fight for her life. We were attacked five times, outgunned, outnumbered, on a small piece of land, and our main challenge was to remain alive. — Shimon Peres

Find a cause that's larger than yourself and then give your life to it. — Shimon Peres

The present Arab uprising didn't stem from Israel. The old guard is trying to keep down the young chickens. The old guard is better organized. They may win elections, but unless they have a solution to poverty, to corruption, to oppression, they will not last. I am with the young people. — Shimon Peres

The president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map. — Shimon Peres

Terrorists and murderers are so dangerous. We shouldn't fall victim to believe that they are immune. — Shimon Peres

Why cross and ocean when you can cross a river? Why should we sail to Washington when we can meet right away 10 miles from here? — Shimon Peres

The Jews' greatest contribution to history is dissatisfaction! We're a nation born to be discontented. Whatever exists we believe can be changed for the better. — Shimon Peres

What is wrong with the Iranians in addition to the nuclear bomb? This is the only country on Earth in the 21st century that has renewed imperialistic ambitions. They really want to become the hegemon of the Middle East in an age that gave up imperialism. — Shimon Peres

Germany and Israel should dream together for a Middle East in which all the countries are willing to exchange the dispute of the parents with peace for their children. — Shimon Peres

Leading the Jewish people is not easy
we are a divided, obstinate, highly individualistic people who have cultivated faith, sharp wittedness and polemics to a very high level. — Shimon Peres

My heart goes out to the brave citizens of Syria, who each day risk and even sacrifice their lives to achieve freedom from a murderous regime. We in Israel welcome the historic struggle to forge democratic, peace-loving governments in our region. — Shimon Peres

Hamas married the Iranians. It was their choice. They are the same family. — Shimon Peres

One of the things the United States does well is building coalitions. What the U.S. knows is that if you don't have a coalition with you, you will have a coalition against you. I don't want to see China and Russia on the side of Iran more strongly than they are. — Shimon Peres

You know who is against democracy in the Middle East? The husbands. They got used to their way of life. Now, the traditional way of life must change. Everybody must change. If you don't give equal rights to women, you can't progress. — Shimon Peres

When I am speaking about American presidents, I have to speak about my very special relations with President Clinton. He contributed more to peace than anybody else in the American sense. — Shimon Peres

It's better to be controversial for the right reasons, than to be popular for the wrong reasons. — Shimon Peres

Nothing had excited me-the huge cars, the entourages, the bodyguards, the policeman jumping to attention, all meant nothing to me ... till I came to the old man's office. (On becoming prime minister) — Shimon Peres