Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev; born 2 March 1931) is a former Soviet statesman. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991 when the party was dissolved. He served as the country's head of state from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991. He was the only General Secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to have been born after the October...
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth2 March 1931
CityPrivolnoye, Russia
changes courageous difficult knew meant needed people position remember truthful voice
Those who knew him remember how much his position and voice meant in difficult times when all the changes started and when people needed faithful, honest, truthful and courageous words.
chance elect government people politics
I think we need more young people; we need to elect young people to government. We need to give them a chance, in the media, in politics, in democracy.
regret people want
Even today, a majority of people surveyed say that they regret the fact that the USSR collapsed. But only 9 percent say that they would want it back.
hands people unions
The Union was destroyed against the will of the people, and it was done deliberately - with the participation of the Russian leadership, on the one hand, and that of the putschists, on the other.
people generations educated
A new generation of more educated people started to be active. Then society required freedom, society demanded freedom.
mean ideas people
I'm still committed to the socialist idea because the socialist idea, correctly understood, includes the principles of freedom and social justice. It also includes the recognition of the value of democracy. When we speak about social justice, it means that freedom should be used not only in the interest of profit but also in the interest of the advancement of the people who create all values.
perfection people achievement
Now that we are rid of this syndrome of imposing the communist model on people, now that we've given them the chance to get rid of this dogma, I have to tell you Americans that you've been pushing your American way of life for decades. You thought it was perfection itself, the ultimate achievement of human thought... There has to be a different approach... Americans have to be more modest in their desires. We have to stimulate human qualities in people rather than greed.
museums people blame
If people don't like Marxism, they should blame the British Museum.
people world lessons
Please remember one lesson of the 20th century. One cannot force happiness, impose happiness on nations by imposing any kind of utopia on others. The Communist model of society was a kind of imposed utopia for which the Russian people in particular paid a great price. Still, sometimes we see that attempts are being made to impose some other kind of model on the entire world - maybe a Westernized or Americanized model... This is not the way to go because this can only create conflict.
cutting ebola people
We must speak more clearly about sexuality, contraception, about abortion, about values that control population, because the ecological crisis, in short, is the population crisis. Cut the population by 90% and there aren't enough people left to do a great deal of ecological damage.
unconditional-love people democracy
The soviet people want full-blooded and unconditional democracy.
party people guilt
The guilt of Stalin and his immediate entourage before the Party and the people for the mass repressions and lawlessness they committed is enormous and unforgivable.
struggle winning people
We have no right ever to forget that psychological warfare is a struggle for winning people's minds.
diversity people creative
People, human beings with all their creative diversity, are the makers of history.