We cannot live in the old way, and I propose to carry out a radical restructuring of all sides of our society's life.

Мы не можем жить по-старому, и я предлагаю провести радикальную перестройку всех сторон жизни нашего общества.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Politicians

Mikhail Gorbachev

Last leader of the Soviet Union (1931-2022). Elected General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985 at age 54, he launched perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness), negotiated the INF Treaty with Ronald Reagan, allowed Eastern Europe to fall in 1989, and accepted German reunification. He won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize but presided over the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991 against his own wishes - a hero in the West, a controversial figure in Russia.

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Source: Report to the 27th Party Congress (第27回ソ連共産党大会報告、1986年2月25日)Verified

Mikhail Gorbachev's Other Quotes

We are now living in a new world. An end has been put to the Cold War and the arms race, as well as to the mad militarisation of our country, which crippled our economy.

He who is late will be punished by history.

Nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.

Related Quotes

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

-- John F. Kennedy

He who is late will be punished by history.

-- Mikhail Gorbachev

Men are not the masters of the revolution; the revolution is the master of men.

-- Fidel Castro

A Harmonious Socialist Society should feature democracy, the rule of law, equity, justice, sincerity, amity and vitality.

-- Hu Jintao

Love consists of three components: intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment.

-- Robert Sternberg