Klerk Quotes & Sayings

The government that came into power after the April 1994 elections was going to need a budget. It was drafted by our finance minister, Derek Keys, and he convinced them of the necessity to stay within the free-market principles that had been in force in South Africa for decades. — F. W. De Klerk

The ANC party from time to time comes with legislation which, if accepted and if not nullified by the constitution of court, would have the effect of undermining the constitution and eroding its values. — F. W. De Klerk

I believe that first impressions are very important. — F. W. De Klerk

What I haven't apologised for is the original concept of seeking to bring justice to all South Africans through the concept of nation states. — F. W. De Klerk

When I talk about the end of apartheid, I prefer not to claim the honor that I have ended it. — F. W. De Klerk

Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well. — George R R Martin

Execution really shapes whether your company takes off or not. — Pete Cashmore

I used to live in New York, and I have friends that work in the fashion world, and I feel like I had an ear to the ground there. — Gillian Jacobs

I played an integral part in helpings formulating that new vision ... that we must abandon apartheid and accept one united South Africa with equal rights for all, with all forms of discrimination to be scrapped from the statute book. — F. W. De Klerk

You cannot say we are a healthy, dynamic democracy when one party wins almost two-thirds of the vote. — F. W. De Klerk

I am a bit obsessive about tidiness. I need to make my bed in the morning and leave it perfectly made up. — Kiefer Sutherland

It was fortunate in looking back for South Africa and its entire people that Mandela and I found it possible to work together even though big strains developed between us from time to time. — F. W. De Klerk

Peace does not fare well where poverty and deprivation reign. It does not flourish where there is ignorance and a lack of education and information. — Frederik Willem De Klerk

The relationship between me and President Mandela right at the beginning was not a very well-established relationship. It was based on two meetings. — F. W. De Klerk

I felt a sense of fulfillment that an action plan, which I'd laid on the table on the 2nd of February 1990, had been fulfilled, had been properly implemented within the time frame which I envisaged. — F. W. De Klerk

The question that we must ask is whether we are making progress toward the goal of universal peace. Or are we caught up on a treadmill of history, turning forever on the axle of mindless aggression and self-destruction? — F. W. De Klerk

Most man can think no better than a child! This fact perfectly explains why there are so many funny beliefs! — Mehmet Murat Ildan

A frog would leap from a throne of gold into a puddle. — Publilius Syrus

It was an honour for me to have been able to work with Mr. Mandela in the process that led to the adoption of the interim constitution and our first democratic elections in April 1994. — F. W. De Klerk

The state of minds vary according to the angle under which one examines them. — Ella Maillart

The gun locked open and he slammed another magazine in. As he did it, he either saw or imagined he saw a ripple moving through the cornfield and fired four more shots at it, then stopped, crouched, and stepped sideways across the nose of the truck, saw Robertson facedown in the driveway gravel. He was alive, pushing up with his hands, getting nowhere. — John Sandford

President Mandela was not a hands-on president at any time. — F. W. De Klerk

In our quest for peace, we should constantly ask ourselves what we should do to create conditions in which peace can prosper. — F. W. De Klerk

My predecessor, P. W. Botha, had an inner circle, and I did not like it. I preferred decisions to evolve out of cabinet discussions. That way, we achieved real co-ownership of our policies. — F. W. De Klerk

I have made the most profound apology in front of the Truth Commission and on other occasions about the injustices which were wrought by apartheid. — F. W. De Klerk

For many years, I supported the concept of separate states. — F. W. De Klerk

Above all, we owe it to the children of the world to stop the conflicts and to create new horizons for them. — F. W. De Klerk

Sometimes good and evil aren't so much opposites as two sides of a coin. You toss it one way and it looks good, another way and it's evil, sometimes it just depends on which end of the gun you're on. — Laurell K. Hamilton

I am filled with fear and tormented with terrible visions of pain. Everywhere people are hurting one another, the planet is rampant with injustices, whole societies plunder groups of their own people, mothers imprison sons, children perish while brothers war. O, woe. — Robert Anton Wilson

Coming from West Texas at the time that I did, I didn't know you could be an actor. It didn't seem like something that actually happened. — Deanna Dunagan

They say California's the big burrito; Texas is a big taco right now. We want to follow that through. Florida is a big tamale. — Dan Rather

When I first met Mandela, we did not discuss anything of substance; we just felt each other out. He spent a long time expressing his admiration for the Boer generals and how ingenious they were during the Anglo-Boer war. — F. W. De Klerk