Quotes from Tun Dr Mahathir

In 2000, Mahathir was quoted as saying: "If Australia wants to be a friend to Asia, it should stop behaving as if it is there to teach us how to run our country. It is a small nation in terms of numbers and it should behave like a small nation and not be a teacher." He also said, "This country stands out like a sore thumb trying to impose its European values in Asia as if it is the good old days when people can shoot aborigines without caring about human rights".

In 1997, during the financial crisis, he attributed the collapse of the Malaysian ringgit to a conspiracy of Jews against a prosperous Muslim state: "The Jews robbed the Palestinians of everything, but in Malaysia they could not do so, hence they do this, depress the ringgit."

"I am not anti-Semitic ... I am against those Jews who kill Muslims and the Jews who support the killers of Muslims."

He tagged the West as "anti-Muslim", for double standards by "protecting Jews while allowing others to insult Islam." He also said "But when somebody condemns the Muslims, calls my prophet, "terrorist", did the European Union say anything?"

In January 2010, Mahathir stated the September 11 attacks, conducted by Arab Muslim terrorists and coordinated by Osama bin Laden would have been "staged" by a US government conspiracy to justify attacking Muslims, a 9/11 conspiracy theory. He also said he was "more sensitive to the victims as I am saying this is done deliberately" and rejected comments that interpreted his statement as a publicity stunt. He added Jews "had always been a problem in European countries. They had to be confined to ghettoes and periodically massacred. But still they remained, they thrived and they held whole governments to ransom... Even after their massacre by the Nazis of Germany, they survived to continue to be a source of even greater problems for the world."

"How can we claim to be civilised when we condone and legalise mass killings of men, women and children, the old and the sick as a solution to conflicts between nations?"
Imperial College, London on 25 April 2008

"Who are the terrorists? The people below who were bombed or the bombers? Whose rights have been snatched away?"
Suhakam's Human Rights Conference on 9 September 2005


"A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first steps. We have taken many steps. Let us march forward in this struggle to achieve true civilisation, to criminalise war."
"Expose War Crimes – Criminalise War" Conference in Kuala Lumpur on 5 February 2007

History should remember Blair and Bush as the killers of children or as the lying prime minister and president.
* "Bush and Blair, 'children killers'", PressTV, 09 Oct 2007.

"The Malays are spiritually inclined, tolerant and easy-going. The non-Malays, and especially the Chinese, are materialistic, aggressive and have an appetite for work. For equality to come about, it is necessary that these strikingly contrasting races adjust to each other." - 1970 book, "The Malay Dilemma."

"...penguasaan bahasa Inggeris menjadi amat penting. Ini tidak bermakna kita ingin membelakangkan bahasa kita, bahasa Kebangsaan. Bahasa kita tidak akan dapat dimajukan jika kita kekal sebagai bangsa yang mundur. Hanya bangsa yang maju sahaja yang akan dapat mengembangkan bahasanya"

"Work should be enjoyed in the same way that we enjoy playing. A bored worker is as bad as a bored player. He does not win. A bored worker does not produce. He merely marks time. He is a wage slave"
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, April 15, 1982
National Seminar on Productivity, Kuala Lumpur

"Keagungan sesuatu bangsa itu ditentukan oleh kepentingan yang diberikan kepada sejarah. Sejarah merupakan suatu khazanah yang amat bernilai. Sejarah adalah gedung pengalaman. Bangsa yang agung adalah bangsa yang menempuh sejarah dan yang mahu mempelajari dari sejarah. Sesuatu bangsa yang tidak mempelajari daripada sejarah akan terus melakukan kesalahan berkali-kali yang akan berakhir dengan keruntuhan bangsa itu. Daripada sejarah kita menghargai kehormatan diri kita"
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
Majlis Pelancaran Memorial Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra

"Sometimes we feel that we are not capable of doing certain jobs. Actually, if we concentrate on doing a job and keep on trying to do it, God-Willing, we will able to acquire skills and efficiency. There is no skill that cannot be acquired"
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, May 26, 1991
The Meaning of Vision 2020