Amr Moussa Quotes

The civilized world is far ahead of us. We have no choice but to catch up.

I am not afraid of new inventions or improvements, nor bigoted to the practices of our forefathers. It is that bigotry which keeps the Indians in a state of barbarism in the midst of the arts and would have kept us in the same state even now

America…could within twenty years bring us to a degree of development which Turks, left to themselves, would not be able to achieve in a century. It would make Turkey prosperous, rich and happy and turn Turks into a strong and civilized nation.

The '80s was the time for the great so-called modernization in Spain. It was a moment when it seemed that everything was breaking up and moving fast into modernity.

As countries grapple with modernization, people who are left behind tend to hold firmer and firmer to their view of the evil of modernity.

I much prefer the modern world.

The march of progress must continue.

Many still believe that conducting political and economic reforms at the same time is not an Asian way. But this is a fairy-tale. We broke that old stereotype by reforming our political, economic and social systems concurrently since 1990.

Reform is China's second revolution.

Once we started to urbanize, we put ourselves on this treadmill. We traded away stability for growth. And growth requires change.

We are redefining and we are restating our socialism in terms of the scientific revolution.

Reform is one of the priorities of the Arab world. All countries and societies want to move ahead and have their own views of how to move ahead. Reform is an item for all of us to support but we have to be cautious because of the fragility of the security situation and uncertainty on the international scene.

Israel was established in 1948. Then, the average income in Palestine was lower than in Egypt, for example. Today, 55 years after the establishment of Israel, the average income in Israel is 15 times higher than in Egypt. Israel fought all same wars as the Arabs and Egyptians. How come it continued to progress to the point it has become a technological force to be reckoned with? The reason is that it's a democracy.

Modernization is found in markets.

20 centuries of progress have brought the average citizen a vote, a national anthem, a Ford, a bank account and a high opinion of himself but not the capacity to live in high density without befouling and denuding his environment.

In our State the locomotive has waked up the sleeping energies of a great people, and is transforming wasted fields into blooming gardens, and arousing men and women from the dull and heavy sleep that dwells with satisfaction upon the past, into the bright intelligence that looks to a glorious future ….

I saw their fields under very respectable cultivation, and bearing good crops. They had exchanged their original rude wigwams for comfortable houses, with barns and offices attached to them, scarcely if at all inferior to those of the whites, and some of the houses have little plots or gardens in front kept in good order… All these marks of improvement surprised us; we did not expect to meet with a state of such high comparative civilization.

My fear is that in general terms the evolution of the political process proceeds at the same pace as the evolution of the species and I do not myself believe that that is quite fast enough

Do you believe that life today is the same as it was 10 centuries ago? This tremendous change was produced by the West. Who else produced it?

If we are to make any real, speedy and substantial progress, we must earnestly tackle this question and bring our educational policy and program on the lines suited to the genius of our people, consonant with our history and culture, and having regard to the modern conditions and vast developments that have taken place all over the world. .

It is well known that Iraq has the greatest number of scientists, who are among the best in the Arab world. They are being assassinated systematically. We are not allowed to have minds and to progress.

The social goals are the most difficult to achieve in the development of any country.

Civilization cannot go back; civilization must not stand still. We have undertaken new methods. It is our task to perfect, to improve, to alter when necessary, but in all cases to go forward. To consolidate what we are doing, to make our economic and social structure capable of dealing with modern life, is the joint task of the legislative, the judicial, and the executive branches of the National Government.

Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.

We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they will crush us.