新加坡建國總理李光耀於 2015/3/23 凌晨在新加坡中央醫院安詳辭世,享壽91歲。他畢生說過不少膾炙人口的名言,以下整理 :
1.「在被敬愛與被敬畏兩者之間,我總認為馬基維利是對的。如果沒人怕我,我就沒價值了。」
"Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If no one is afraid of me, I'm worthless."
2.「如果你是麻煩製造者…我的工作就是在政治上毀了你…大家都知道,我的袋子裡有把小斧頭,非常鋒利的斧頭。你跟我鬥,我拿斧頭,我們死胡同見。」
"If you are a troublemaker… my job is to politically destroy you… Everyone knows I have a hatchet in my bag, a very sharp hatchet. You challenge me, I'll take out the hatchet, and we'll meet in a cul-de-sac."
3.「你問大家,他們想要什麼?像你們這樣,擁有寫社論的權利嗎?他們要的是房子、醫藥、工作與學校。」
"You ask people, what do they want? The right to write editorials like you? They want houses, medicine, jobs, and schools."
4.「就算我在病榻上,即便是你們就要把我放進墳墓裡了,我覺得有什麼事情出錯了,我就會爬起來。」
"Even if I am lying on my deathbed, if you are about to put me into the grave and I think something is going wrong, I will get up."
5.「我不會說我是無神論者,我不否認也不認為有上帝存在,所以我不會嘲笑崇拜上帝的人,但我不需要相信上帝,也不需要否認可能有位上帝。」
"I wouldn't say I'm an atheist. I don't deny nor accept that there is a God. So I wouldn't mock those who worship God, but I don't need to believe in God, nor do I need to deny the possibility of a God."
6.「我們必須把人關起來,不經審判,不管他們是共產主義者、是語言沙文主義者、是宗教極端主義者,不那樣做,國家就會一團亂。」
"We have to lock people up without trial, whether they are communists, language chauvinists, or religious extremists. Without doing so, the country will be in chaos."
7.「如果你常到中國,就會知道你所說的是錯的。你可以隨時去看,他們越是成功,就越不把你放在眼裡,對你的態度也會更傲慢。」
"If you visit China often, you'll know you're wrong. Go and see anytime; the more successful they are, the less they care about you, and their attitude towards you will only get more arrogant."
8.「如果你以為,你對我的傷害,多過我可以對你造成的傷害,你就來試試看。沒有別的辦法來治理一個華人社會。」
"If you think you can hurt me more than I can hurt you, try me. There's no other way to govern a Chinese society."
資料參考 : 《李光耀:新加坡賴以生存的硬道理》、Wiki