A little something to learn from the President of Uruguay.

1. POWERFUL QUOTES
FROM THE WORLD’S MOST
HUMBLE PRESIDENT
15

2. JOSE “PEPE” MUJICA
“Modest yet bold, liberal and fun-loving” – The Economist

3. ON
REVOLUTIONS
AND REVOLTS
1

4. "I've seen some springs that ended up being terrible winters. We
human beings are gregarious. We can't live alone. For our lives to be
possible, we depend on society. It's one thing to overturn a
government or block the streets. But it's a different matter altogether
to create and build a better society, one that needs organization,
discipline and long-term work. Let's not confuse the two of them. I
want to make it clear: I feel sympathetic with that youthful energy,
but I think it's not going anywhere if it doesn't become more mature.“

5. "I've seen some springs that ended up being terrible winters. We
human beings are gregarious. We can't live alone. For our lives to be
possible, we depend on society. It's one thing to overturn a
government or block the streets. But it's a different matter altogether
to create and build a better society, one that needs organization,
discipline and long-term work. Let's not confuse the two of them. I
want to make it clear: I feel sympathetic with that youthful energy,
but I think it's not going anywhere if it doesn't become more mature.“

6. "I've seen some springs that ended up being terrible winters. We
human beings are gregarious. We can't live alone. For our lives to be
possible, we depend on society. It's one thing to overturn a
government or block the streets. But it's a different matter altogether
to create and build a better society, one that needs organization,
discipline and long-term work. Let's not confuse the two of them. I
want to make it clear: I feel sympathetic with that youthful energy,
but I think it's not going anywhere if it doesn't become more mature.“
(Source)

7. ON
LEGALIZING
MARIJUANA
2

8. "It has always been like that with changes. In 1913, we established
divorce as a right for women in Uruguay. You know what they were
saying back then? That families would dissolve. That it was the end
of good manners and society. There has always been a conservative
and traditional opinion out there that's afraid of change. When I was
young and would go dancing at balls, we'd have to wear suits and
ties. Otherwise they wouldn't let us in. I don't think anyone dresses
up for dancing parties nowadays.“

9. "It has always been like that with changes. In 1913, we established
divorce as a right for women in Uruguay. You know what they were
saying back then? That families would dissolve. That it was the end
of good manners and society. There has always been a conservative
and traditional opinion out there that's afraid of change. When I was
young and would go dancing at balls, we'd have to wear suits and
ties. Otherwise they wouldn't let us in. I don't think anyone dresses
up for dancing parties nowadays.“ (Source)

10. ON
MATERIALISM
3

11. “We have sacrificed the old immaterial gods, and now we are
occupying the temple of the Market-God. He organizes our economy,
our politics, our habits, our lives, and even provides us with rates and
credit cards and gives us the appearance of happiness. It seems that
we have been born only to consume and to consume, and when we
can no longer consume, we have a feeling of frustration, and we
suffer from poverty, and we are auto-marginalized.“

12. “We have sacrificed the old immaterial gods, and now we are
occupying the temple of the Market-God. He organizes our economy,
our politics, our habits, our lives, and even provides us with rates and
credit cards and gives us the appearance of happiness. It seems that
we have been born only to consume and to consume, and when we
can no longer consume, we have a feeling of frustration, and we
suffer from poverty, and we are auto-marginalized.“ (Source)

13. ON GLOBAL
CONSUMPTION
4

14. "We can almost recycle everything now.
If we lived within our means, by being prudent, the 7 billion people in
the world could have everything they needed. Global politics should
be moving in that direction. But we think as people and countries, not
as a species.“ (Source)

15. ON ABORTION
& SAME-SEX
MARRIAGE
5

16. "We applied a very simple principle:
Recognize the facts.
Abortion is old as the world. Gay marriage, please — it's older than
the world. We had Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, please. To say
it's modern, come on, it's older than we are. It's an objective reality
that it exists. For us, not legalizing it would be to torture people
needlessly."

17. "We applied a very simple principle:
Recognize the facts.
Abortion is old as the world. Gay marriage, please — it's older than
the world. We had Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, please. To say
it's modern, come on, it's older than we are. It's an objective reality
that it exists. For us, not legalizing it would be to torture people
needlessly.“ (Source)

18. ON ENDING
CONFLICT
6

19. “From afar, it seems like a war without a solution and like a long
sacrifice for the entire country. So when a president appears who
tries to open a path to peace, I think that deserves support, because
there is a lot of pain, and if they try to settle scores, the war will
never end. But there is an opportunity. I would feel selfish if I did not
help in any way.
Help does not mean to intervene. I will not meddle if I am not invited
to do so. But if I can serve as a go-between with my experience, I will
support the government's call for dialogue with the rebel forces who
also have their problems, who also have their fears.
I think all us Latin Americans have to help.“ (

20. “From afar, it seems like a war without a solution and like a long
sacrifice for the entire country. So when a president appears who
tries to open a path to peace, I think that deserves support, because
there is a lot of pain, and if they try to settle scores, the war will
never end. But there is an opportunity. I would feel selfish if I did not
help in any way.
Help does not mean to intervene. I will not meddle if I am not invited
to do so. But if I can serve as a go-between with my experience, I will
support the government's call for dialogue with the rebel forces who
also have their problems, who also have their fears.
I think all us Latin Americans have to help.“ (

21. “From afar, it seems like a war without a solution and like a long
sacrifice for the entire country. So when a president appears who
tries to open a path to peace, I think that deserves support, because
there is a lot of pain, and if they try to settle scores, the war will
never end. But there is an opportunity. I would feel selfish if I did not
help in any way.
Help does not mean to intervene. I will not meddle if I am not invited
to do so. But if I can serve as a go-between with my experience, I will
support the government's call for dialogue with the rebel forces who
also have their problems, who also have their fears.
I think all us Latin Americans have to help.“ (Source)

22. ON STAYING
HUMBLE IN
OFFICE
7

23. "As soon as politicians start climbing up the ladder, they suddenly
become kings. I don't know how it works, but what I do know is that
republics came to the world to make sure that no one is more than
anyone else.”

24. "As soon as politicians start climbing up the ladder, they suddenly
become kings. I don't know how it works, but what I do know is that
republics came to the world to make sure that no one is more than
anyone else.”
The pomp of office, he said, is like something left over from a feudal
past: "You need a palace, red carpet, a lot of people behind you
saying, 'Yes, sir.' I think all of that is awful.“ (Source)

25. 8ON
REDISTRIBUTION
OF WEALTH

26. "Businesses just want to increase their profits; it's up to the
government to make sure they distribute enough of those profits so
workers have the money to buy the goods they produce," Mujica told
businessmen at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "It's no mystery —
the less poverty, the more commerce. The most important investment
we can make is in human resources.“

27. "Businesses just want to increase their profits; it's up to the
government to make sure they distribute enough of those profits so
workers have the money to buy the goods they produce," Mujica told
businessmen at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "It's no mystery —
the less poverty, the more commerce. The most important investment
we can make is in human resources.“
(Source)

28. ON AGE
9

29. "What's sad is that an 80-year-old grandpa has to be the
open-minded one. Old people aren't old because of their age, but
because of what's in their heads. They are horrified at this, but they
aren't horrified at what's happening in the streets?“ (Source)

30. 10
ON ADDICTION

31. "Worse that drugs is drug trafficking. Much worse. Drugs are a
disease, and I don't think that there are good drugs or that marijuana
is good. Nor cigarettes. No addiction is good. I include alcohol.
The only good addiction is love. Forget
everything else."

32. "Worse that drugs is drug trafficking. Much worse. Drugs are a
disease, and I don't think that there are good drugs or that marijuana
is good. Nor cigarettes. No addiction is good. I include alcohol.
The only good addiction is love.
Forget everything else."
(Source)

33. ON BEING CALLED THE
WORLD’S POOREST
PRESIDENT
11

34. "I'm not the poorest president.
The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live.
My lifestyle is a consequence of my wounds. I'm the son of my
history. There have been years when I would have been happy just to
have a mattress."

35. "I'm not the poorest president.
The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live.
My lifestyle is a consequence of my wounds. I'm the son of my
history. There have been years when I would have been happy just to
have a mattress."

36. "I'm not the poorest president.
The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live.
My lifestyle is a consequence of my wounds. I'm the son of my
history. There have been years when I would have been happy just to
have a mattress." (Source)

37. ON DONATING 90% OF
HIS SALARY TO CHARITY
12

38. "I have a way of life that I don't change just because I am a president.
I earn more than I need, even if it's not enough for others. For me, it is
no sacrifice, it's a duty.“ (Source)

39. ON HIS GOALS
FOR URUGUAY
13

40. "My goal is to achieve a little less injustice in Uruguay, to help the
most vulnerable and to leave behind a political way of thinking, a
way of looking at the future that will be passed on and used to move
forward. There's nothing short-term, no victory around the corner. I
will not achieve paradise or anything like that. What I want is to fight
for the common good to progress. Life slips by. The way to prolong it
is for others to continue your work.“

41. "My goal is to achieve a little less injustice in Uruguay, to help the
most vulnerable and to leave behind a political way of thinking, a
way of looking at the future that will be passed on and used to move
forward. There's nothing short-term, no victory around the corner. I
will not achieve paradise or anything like that. What I want is to fight
for the common good to progress. Life slips by. The way to prolong it
is for others to continue your work.“

42. "My goal is to achieve a little less injustice in Uruguay, to help the
most vulnerable and to leave behind a political way of thinking, a
way of looking at the future that will be passed on and used to move
forward. There's nothing short-term, no victory around the corner. I
will not achieve paradise or anything like that. What I want is to fight
for the common good to progress. Life slips by. The way to prolong it
is for others to continue your work.“ (Source)

43. ON BEING A
PRESIDENT
14

44. "A president is a high-level official who is elected to carry out a
function. He is not a king, not a god. He is not the witch doctor of a
tribe who knows everything.
He is a civil servant.
I think the ideal way of living is to live like the vast majority of people
whom we attempt to serve and represent."

45. "A president is a high-level official who is elected to carry out a
function. He is not a king, not a god. He is not the witch doctor of a
tribe who knows everything.
He is a civil servant.
I think the ideal way of living is to live like the vast majority of people
whom we attempt to serve and represent."

46. "A president is a high-level official who is elected to carry out a
function. He is not a king, not a god. He is not the witch doctor of a
tribe who knows everything.
He is a civil servant.
I think the ideal way of living is to live like the vast majority of people
whom we attempt to serve and represent.“ (Source)

47. ON THE SECRET
TO HAPPINESS
15

48. "To live in accordance with how one thinks.
Be yourself and don't try to impose your criteria on the rest.

49. "To live in accordance with how one thinks.
Be yourself and don't try to impose your criteria on the rest.
I don't expect others to live like me. I want to respect people's
freedom, but I defend my freedom. And that comes with the courage
to say what you think, even if sometimes others don't share those
views." (Source)

51. Based on the article
“15 Powerful Quotes From the World's Most Humble President”
by Hyacinth Mascarenhas
Asma Ansari
Twitter: @asmaansari7