-"If we say that we believe in democracy, if we say that the fabric of a democratic society is one which allows for the free play of idea...then, in the name of all the gods, give that free play a chance to work within the constitutional framework."- Opposition leader Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore Legislative Assembly, Oct 4, 1956

  -  "We must encourage those who earn less than $200 per month and cannot afford to nurture and educate many children never to have more than two... We will regret the time lost if we do not now take the first tentative steps towards correcting a trend which can leave our society with a large number of the physically, intellectually and culturally anaemic." -Lee Kuan Yew in 1967.

-  "We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you don't do that, the country would be in ruins." - Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, 1986

-   “Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up.”

-  "... If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana", 2000. Lee Kuan Yew was responding to a BBC reporter who suggested that Singapore's draconian laws (including the ban on chewing gum) could stifle the people's creativity.

-  "He picked up from me a certain way of thinking, certain logic, certain cut of mind. He has got from his mother a facility with words and a certain intuition." - Lee Kuan Yew on Lee Hsien Loong, Straits Times, 22 Jun 2004

- "If I have to shoot 200,000 students to save China from another 100 years of disorder, so be it." - Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew evoking the ghost of Deng Xiaoping whilst endorsing the Tiananmen Square massacre, Straits Times, 17 Aug 2004

-"Low salaries will draw in the hypocrites who sweet talk their way into power in the name of public service, but once in charge will show their true colour and ruin the country." - 2007, on Minister's Pay

-"Do not worry about Singapore. My colleagues and I are sane, rational people even in our moments of anguish. We will weigh all possible consequences before we make any move on the political chessboard..."