Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Mengistu Haile Mariam
17 quotes
“I am a revolutionary; my life is dedicated to freeing the people.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in David A. Korn (1986) Ethiopia, the United States and the Soviet Union, Southern Illinois University Press, page 61
“what is important to me as it is for the Ethiopian people, is the unity of the country, the sovereignty of the country and I'm not ready to compromise on that.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1990 interview to news maker.
“When we planned our country's economic development, we had the strategic objective of our Revolution in mind. It was not planned for economic development [to be] solely an end in itself. There are some who have forgotten that the sole basis of our revolutionary struggle was the ideology and politics which we follow...”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in John M. Cohen (1987) Integrated Rural Development: The Ethiopian Experience and the Debate, p. 213
“All I can say is that living for 17 years without rest from fighting, dealing with problem after problem, war after war, and crisis after crisis, every day and every hour was very difficult.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Henceforth we will tackle our enemies that come face to face with us and we will not be stabbed in from behind by internal foes... To this end, we will arm the allies and comrades of the broad masses without giving respite to reactionaries, and avenge the blood of our comrades double - and triple - fold.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: February 5 (1977), as quoted by Dawit Wolde Giorgis (1989) Red Tears: War, Famine and Revolution in Ethiopia, The Red Sea Press Inc., p. 31
“One of the fundamental preconditions of successful socialist construction is to ensure the people's readiness to defend themselves from the ravages of probable regional or global wars on the basis of the balance of forces generating from the basic contradictions of our epoch.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Edmund J. Keller (1991) Revolutionary Ethiopia: From Empire to People's Republic, Indiana University Press, p. 212
“In this country, some aristocratic families automatically categorize persons with dark skin, thick lips, and kinky hair as "Barias" [Amharic for slave]... let it be clear to everybody that I shall soon make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Dr. Paulos Milkia's "Mengistu Haile Mariam: The Profile of a Dictator", reprinted from the February 1994 Ethiopian Review
“[Haile Selassie] was 80 years old and a very weak man. We tried our best to save him but we could not keep him.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Mengistu defends 'Red Terror'", in BBC News (28 December 1999)
“[Haile Selassie] died a natural death, as far as I know. I can't deny that there were many of my men who would have been glad to kill him with their bare hands to avenge the fathers and brothers they had lost due to him. The doctor looking after him told me nothing about any deterioration in his health, so there was no way I could personally ascertain what happened.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Riccardo Orizio, Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators, (Walker and Company, 2003), p. 145
“When [Nelson Mandela] was in prison I admired him for his moral strength... Of his period in power I can see few results. Apartheid no longer exists, at least to all appearances, but no one understands what the new government in South Africa is doing.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Riccardo Orizio, Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators, (Walker and Company, 2003), p. 148
“I'm a military man, I did what I did only because my country had to be saved from tribalism and feudalism. If I failed, it was only because I was betrayed. The so-called genocide was nothing more than just a war in defence of the revolution and a system from which all have benefited.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Riccardo Orizio, Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators, (Walker and Company, 2003), p. 150
“We fought them when they sought to dismember the nation. Is this why I should seek exoneration?”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010)
“If I had resigned on my own accord, to whom would I have transferred the reigns of power?”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010)
“We did not even know his name.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010)
“We thought that the proletariat would eventually run the world. But it is the Americans who have assumed that position... The American people have changed.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010)
“Ethiopia did not have the same problem [of corruption]. African leaders looked at us with envy.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010)
“Mugabe fought and liberated his country from colonists. But I am here as a guest of the Zimbabwe people. I am not a personal guest of Mugabe. And veterans of the liberation struggle are well aware of this fact.”
Mengistu Haile Mariam (born 1937) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010)