“The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.”

“On these issues, the public fib. They say they want increased spending, and in theory they do—but in practice they think someone else should pay for it. However, there it is. As I used to say, the public aren’t always logical, but that’s their prerogative. They do expect their government to be, nonetheless.”

“Politics may be the art of the possible, but at least in life, give the impossible a go.”

“If we take all this actions and if it turns out not be true, we have reduced pollution and have better ways to live, the downside is very small. The other way around, and we don’t act, and it turns out to be true, then we have betrayed future generations and we don’t have the right to do that.”

“Sometimes it is better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing.”

“A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out.”

“The first rule in politics is that there are no rules, at least not in the sense of inevitable defeats or inevitable victories. If you have the right policy and the right strategy, you always have a chance of winning. Without them, you can lose no matter how certain the victory seems.”