Singapore Quotes

• The tallest building in the world is now in Dubai, the biggest factory in the world is in China, the largest oil refinery is in India, the largest investment fund in the world is in Abu Dhabi, the largest Ferris wheel in the world is in Singapore.

  Fareed Zakaria

  Dubai, Oil, India

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• Singapore is the happiest place in Asia

  Dan Buettner

  Asia

  Dan Buettner (2010). “Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way”, p.101, National Geographic Books

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• Singapore is a pretty fantastic place, and the race is always a challenge.

  Romain Grosjean

  Race, Challenges, Fantastic

  "Singapore GP: Romain Grosjean, Lotus - Q&A". Interview, www.crash.net. September 15, 2013.

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• Getting to places like Bangkok or Singapore was a hell of a sweat. But when you got there it was the back of beyond. It was just a series of small tin sheds.

  David Attenborough

  Sweat, Tin, Hell

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• Nobody in Singapore drinks Singapore Slings. It's one of the first things you find out there. What you do in Singapore is eat. It's a really food-crazy culture, where all of this great food is available in a kind of hawker-stand environment.

  Anthony Bourdain

  Travel, Crazy, Culture

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• If Singapore is a nanny state, then I am proud to have fostered one.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Inspiring, Nannies, Proud

  "From Third World to First, The Singapore Story: 1965-2000". Book by Lee Kuan Yew, 2000.

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• We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Thinking, People, Mind

  The Straits Times, April 20, 1987.

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• At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Successful, The End Of The Day, Ends

  "Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going". Book by Fook Kwang Han and Lee Kuan Yew, 2011.

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• Life is not just eating, drinking, television and cinema...The human mind must be creative, must be self-generating ; it cannot depend on just gadgets to amuse itself.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Drinking, Self, Creative

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• The human being needs a challenge, and my advice to every person in Singapore and elsewhere: Keep yourself interested, have a challenge.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Advice, Challenges, Needs

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• New Singapore will be one of the world's finest, most liveable cities. Arts, theatres, museums, music and sports will flourish. Singapore will be a lively and exciting place.. Our city will not only have depth, but also the richness of diversity. But above all, Singapore will a home for Singaporeans.

  Goh Chok Tong

  Change, Sports, Art

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• If I were in authority in Singapore indefinitely without having to ask those who are governed whether they like what is being done, then I would not have the slightest doubt that I could govern much more effectively in their interests.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Doubt, Done, Authority

  Radio Interview in 1960. "South-East Asia: A Political Profile". Book by Damien Kingsbury, p. 337, 2001.

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• Freedom of the press, freedom of the news media, must be subordinated to the overriding needs of the integrity of Singapore, and to the primacy of purpose of an elected government.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Inspiring, Integrity, Government

  Address To The General Assembly Of The International Press Institute At Helsinki Wednesday, June 9, 1971.

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• Even in a society as tightly controlled as Singapore's, the market creates certain forces which perhaps in the long run may lead to democracy

  Peter L. Berger

  Running, Long, Democracy

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• Singapore has been incredibly well-managed. It was created out of the swamp, with a strong emotional idea: a safe place for mostly Chinese, but accepting other cultures and other races.

  Nicolas Berggruen

  Strong, Emotional, Race

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• I’m not interested in changing either my suit or my car or whatever with every change in fashion. That’s irrelevant. I don’t judge myself or my friends by their fashions. Of course, I don’t approve of people who are sloppy and unnecessarily shabby or dishevelled… But I’m not impressed by a US$5,000 or US$10,000 Armani suit.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Fashion, Judging, Car

  Lee Kuan Yew (2013). “The Wit & Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew”, p.148, Editions Didier Millet

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• The countries who do the best in international comparisons, whether it's Finland or Japan, Denmark or Singapore, do well because they have professional teachers who are respected, and they also have family and community which support learning.

  Howard Gardner

  Country, Teacher, Japan

  "The Global Search for Education: What Do We Value Most?". Interview with C. M. Rubin, www.huffingtonpost.com. August 31, 2011.

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• I'm an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard.

  Raymond Chandler

  Beer, Guy, Wake Up

  Raymond Chandler (2002). “The Simple Art of Murder”, p.115, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

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• I don't believe in love at first sight. I think it's a grave mistake.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Inspiring, Mistake, Believe

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• The human being is an unequal creature. That is a fact. And we start off with the proposition. All the great religions, all the great movements, all the great political ideology, say let us make the human being as equal as possible. In fact, he is not equal, never will be.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Political, Facts, Movement

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• If you don’t include your women graduates in your breeding pool and leave them on the shelf, you would end up a more stupid society…So what happens? There will be less bright people to support dumb people in the next generation. That’s a problem.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Stupid, People, Support

  National Day Rally, 1983.

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• My loyalty is first and foremost, to the people of Singapore. It has always been so, and will always remain so.

  Ong Teng Cheong

  Loyalty, People, Firsts

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• I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Thinking, People, Mind

  Straits Times, April 20, 1987.

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• There is nothing to prevent you from pushing your propaganda, to push your programme out to the students or with the public at large…and if you can carry the ground, if you are right, you win. That’s democracy.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Winning, Democracy, Pushing

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• Please do not assume that you can change governments. Young people don’t understand this.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Government, People, Assuming

  "Singapore's Founding Father Lee Kuan Yew Critically Ill" by Anna Fifield, www.smh.com.au. March 19, 2015.

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