Memorable quotes
1. China faces enormous economic problems—a disparity in income between the rich coastal cities and the inland provinces, and in income within the coastal cities. They have got to watch that carefully or they might get severe discontent and civil disorder
2. Americans have a can-do approach to life: everything can be broken up, analyzed, and redefined. Whether it can or it cannot, Americans believe it can be solved, given enough money, research, and effort. Over the years, I have watched the Americans revise and restructure their economy, after they were going down in the 1980s, when Japan and Germany looked like they were eclipsing America, taking over all the manufacturing. Americans came roaring back. They have the superior system. It is more competitive
3. The U.S. is a frontier society…There is a great urge to start new enterprises and create wealth. The U.S. has been the most dynamic society in innovating, in starting up companies to commercialize new discoveries or inventions, thus creating new wealth
4. Presidents do not get reelected if they give a hard dose of medicine to their people. So, there is a tendency to procrastinate, to postpone unpopular policies in order to win elections. So, problems such as budget deficits, debt, and high unemployment have been carried forward from one administration to the next
5. coyness or diffidence seems to have descended on American politicians. American
6. Unfortunately, welfare costs grew faster than the government’s ability to raise taxes to pay for it. The political cost of tax increases is high. Governments took the easy way out by borrowing to give higher benefits to the current generation of voters and passing the costs on to the future generation who were not yet voters. This resulted in persistent government budget deficits and high public debt.
7. If a people have lost faith completely in their democratic institutions because they cannot find people of caliber to run them, however good that system, it perishes. Ultimately, it is the people who run the system who make it come to life
8. To get good government, you must have good people in charge of government. I have observed in the last 40 years that even with a poor system of government, but with good strong people in charge, people get passable government with decent progress. On the other hand, I have seen many ideal systems of government fail
9. To get good government, you must have good people in charge of government. I have observed in the last 40 years that even with a poor system of government, but with good strong people in charge, people get passable government with decent progress. On the other hand, I have seen many ideal systems of government fail. Britain and France between them wrote over 80 constitutions for their different colonies
10. Americans believe their ideas are universal—the supremacy of the individual and free, unfettered expression. But they are not—never were. In fact, American society was so successful for so long not because of these ideas and principles, but because of a certain geopolitical good fortune, an abundance of resources and immigrant energy, a generous flow of capital and technology from Europe, and two wide oceans that kept conflicts of the world away from American shores
11. What role does Islam itself play in fueling Islamic extremism? Muslims want to assimilate us. It is one-way traffic…They have no confidence in allowing choice
12. Hinduism, Chinese Confucianism or Communism, Japanese Shintoism, they are secular really. They know that to progress, you must master science and technology…But the Muslims believe that if they master the Qu’ran and they are prepared to do all that Muhammad has prescribed, they will succeed. So, we can expect trouble from them and so, it happened
13. The quality of a nation’s manpower resources is the single most important factor determining national competitiveness. It is a people’s innovativeness, entrepreneurship, team work, and their work ethic that give them that sharp keen edge in competitiveness
14. The national counterpart to businesses that source globally is a society that welcomes foreign talent. Societies that will succeed are those which easily assimilate foreigners. Silicon Valley is such a place. Not only is it “color blind” and uniquely meritocratic, it has a culture that draws newcomers in. Asia’s businesspeople must acquire these attributes and be globally literate.
15. The national counterpart to businesses that source globally is a society that welcomes foreign talent. Societies that will succeed are those which easily assimilate foreigners. Silicon Valley is such a place. Not only is it “color blind” and uniquely meritocratic, it has a culture that draws newcomers in. Asia’s businesspeople must acquire these attributes and be globally literate
16. In today’s globalized environment, brought about by the IT revolution and the WTO [World Trade Organization], is this possible? I believe it is infinitely more difficult for nations to create incubators for nurturing such national champions
17. As long as competition was confined within national boundaries, each country was able to nurture its national champions, and they developed different styles of entrepreneurship and business leadership, resulting in different corporate cultures…In today’s globalized environment, brought about by the IT revolution and the WTO [World Trade Organization], is this possible? I believe it is infinitely more difficult for nations to create incubators for nurturing such national champions
18. . If you want to be popular all the time, you will misgovern
19. requires two things to succeed. First, there must be an interested and vigilant electorate
20. I understood Deng Xiaoping when he said: if 200,000 students have to be shot, shoot them, because the alternative is China in chaos for another 100 years…Deng understood, and he released it stage by stage. Without Deng, China would have imploded
21. And when a state of increasing disorder and defiance of authority cannot be checked by the rules then existing…drastic rules have to be forged to maintain order so that the law can continue to govern human relations. The alternative is to surrender order for chaos and anarchy.37
22. The more yang (male) competitiveness in society, the higher the total performance. If winner takes all, competition will be keen, but group solidarity will be weak. The more yin (female) solidarity, with rewards evenly distributed, the greater the group solidarity, but the weaker the total performance because of
23. We have arranged help, but in such a way that only those who have no other choice will seek it. This is the opposite of attitudes in the West, where liberals actively encourage people to demand entitlements with no sense of shame, causing an explosion of welfare costs.
24. For at 60, more than at 50, comes the realization of the transient nature of all earthly glories and successes, and the ephemeral quality of sensory joys and pleasures, when compared to intellectual, moral, or spiritual satisfactions
25. Only those count and matter who have the strength and courage of their convictions to stick up and stand up for what they believe in, for their people, for their country, regardless of what happens to them
26. There are three basic essentials for [the] successful transformation of any society. First, a determined leadership…two, an administration which is efficient; and three, social discipline
27. Only two decades later, when I had to make an outdated entrepôt economy feed a people, did I realize we needed to create the wealth before we can share it. And to create wealth, high motivation and incentives are crucial to drive a people to achieve, to take risks for profit, or there will be nothing to share
28. And to want to have means to be able, first, to perceive what it is you want; secondly, how to discipline and organize yourself in order to possess the things you want—the industrial sinews of our modern economic base; and thirdly, the grit and the stamina, which means cultural mutations in the way of life in large parts of the tropical areas of the world where the human being has never found it necessary to work in the summer, harvest before autumn, and save
29. However, we must not lose our basic strengths, the vitality of our original cultures and languages…Realism and pragmatism are necessary to overcome new problems. Only those basics that have proved sound in the past should not be changed unless absolutely necessary. Amongst them are honesty and integrity, multi-racialism, equality of opportunities, meritocracy, fairness in rewards in accordance with one’s contribution to society, avoidance of the buffet syndrome where, for a fixed price, you can take or eat as much as you want. That is why welfare and subsidies destroy the motivation to perform and succeed
30. These are the four salient features of America’s entrepreneurial culture: (1) a national emphasis
31. Circumstances and culture decide how entrepreneurial a people or a sub-group of them becomes…These are the four salient features of America’s entrepreneurial culture: (1) a national emphasis on personal independence and self-reliance, (2) respect for those starting new businesses, (3) acceptance of failure in entrepreneurial and innovation efforts, and (4) tolerance
32. for a high degree of income disparity
33. He mastered defense matters, read up the classics on strategy, Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, and Liddell Hart. He subscribed to military journals to know the latest in military weaponry. He
34. He mastered defense matters, read up the classics on strategy, Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, and Liddell Hart.
35. weapons of mass destruction equals a threat…A nuclear-capable Iran
36. In the West, especially after World War II, the government came to be seen as so successful that it could fulfill all the obligations that in less modern societies are fulfilled by the family…In the East, we start with selfreliance. In the West today, it is the opposite. The government says give me a popular mandate and I will solve all society’s problems