“The border cracks open facing Asia and the East.
With the West and Europe behind me,
I, the guard, protect it.”

“Do you know what 'Arriba' means. It means: Swim faster, the border guards are behind us.”

“Our nation stood guard on tense borders; we spoke for the rights of dissidents and the hopes of exile; we aided the rise of new democracies on the ruins of tyranny. And all the cost and sacrifice of that struggle has been worth it, because, from Latin America to Europe to Asia, we've gained the peace that freedom brings.”

“What troubles me is that we will see in Germany no approximation of the East German income to the West German income anymore, because productivity stays so far behind.”

“In 1990, East Asia, South Asia, and Africa all had the same percentage of people living in extreme poverty: 55 percent. Now, East Asia is at ten percent, and South Asia has gone down to 30 percent. In Africa, it’s still 55 percent. Why did we succeed in East Asia, and why are we falling behind in Africa? This year, we’re going to be lending over $60 billion. That seems like a lot of money, but every year, sub-Saharan Africa requires about $100 billion in new investment in infrastructure.”

“It was prince Igor who decided already many years before Peter the Great to cut an opening to Europe. But as he didn’t know where Europe was, he cut it in a wrong direction, namely to Asia.”

“German reunification could not have been achieved if the Hungarian government did not open its border with Austria to provide an exit route for the East German people.”

“…Open anything you want. Go anywhere you wish. But I absolutely forbid you to enter that little room, and if you open it so much as a crack, nothing will protect you from my wrath.”

“Asia is not going to be civilised after the methods of the West. There is too much Asia and she is too old.”

“The greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God.”