Hamid Karzai quotes

Hamid Karzai is an Afghan politician who served as the first President of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime. His leadership marked a crucial era of rebuilding and international cooperation for Afghanistan. He played a key role in shaping the country’s post-Taliban political landscape. Here are 39 of his quotes:

My problem is that I am perhaps too much of a democrat for this time of the country's life. If you need a dictator, then go to the Afghan people. Let them elect a dictator. I am not one of those. (Hamid Karzai)
Not very far from here stood two towers that symbolized freedom, prosperity and progress. Half way around the globe stood two magnificent Buddha's that represented a culture of tolerance and a nation with a rich history. These symbols have been linked together through the global scourge of terrorism. Terror may have demolished these physical structures, however it strengthens the willpower of the international community never to let down the spirit and determination with which these icons were built. View quote
Hamid Karzai
Where liberty dies, evil grows. View quote
Hamid Karzai
But the war on terror as I have repeatedly said in the past, and the Afghan people believe in it, in truth, is that the war on terror is not in the Afghan villages or homes. Its in the sanctuaries, it is in the training grounds, its in the motivation factors and the money that comes to it. View quote
Hamid Karzai
There is no doubt that people are angry. When a family is hit by a bomb and I am the president here with the responsibility -- when a suicide bomb takes places and murders the people of this nation -- I am the president of this country and it is my responsibility to bring peace to these people. View quote
Hamid Karzai
On the security front the entire Nato exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life, and no gains because the country is not secure. View quote
Hamid Karzai
politics without morality is close to sin. View quote
Hamid Karzai
Terrorism sees, in the prosperity of the Afghan people, its ultimate defeat. View quote
Hamid Karzai
Today, while celebrating the jihad victory, we once again invite those who have sided with aliens because of seduction against their nation, to give up sedition and evil and join peaceful life. View quote
Hamid Karzai
We must not turn away when we hear the cries of the hungry. We must not stand by when we see the killing and terrorizing of the innocent. We should not wait until hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of our fellow human beings have died as occurred in Afghanistan, before we act. View quote
Hamid Karzai
Democracy as a system of government may indeed be unprecedented in Afghanistan, but democracy as a way of life, a set of principles and values, is deeply embedded in our society. (Hamid Karzai)
Every time we ignore the suffering of others or stand by and watch, we do not only act against our own interests but we violate a part of our humanity. View quote
Hamid Karzai
When you see on the news or read in the newspaper that so many people were killed in places far away, do not let these numbers become mere abstractions to you. These are real people, like you and I. They are families, friends; they have pain, they have grief. View quote
Hamid Karzai
I would never call a neighbor an enemy. But I would request the neighbor to be a good neighbor, to see that the neighbor's interest is a stable prosperous neighbor, a neighbor that is doing well. View quote
Hamid Karzai
We have no other choice, we have no power to stop the [U.S.] planes, if we could, if I could ... we would stop them and bring them down, ... If we had a chelak, we would throw it and stop the American aircraft. We have no radar to stop them in the sky, we have no planes, ... I wish I could intercept the planes that are going to bomb Afghan villages, but that's not in my hands. View quote
Hamid Karzai
On my graduation there was a party by the junior students, and I was given a hair brush as a gift - if I take off my hat, you know what I mean.(laughter) View quote
Hamid Karzai
Afghanistan has moved forward and Afghanistan will defend itself. And the progress that we have achieved, the Afghan people will not allow it to be put back or reversed. View quote
Hamid Karzai
If it is terrorism, if it is war on terror, then the Afghan people will join you on terror. View quote
Hamid Karzai
Life without Liberty is far worse than death. View quote
Hamid Karzai
The West has been able to bring Afghanistan a much better health service, better education, better roads, a better economy, though some have benefited more; some have benefited less from that economic well-being in Afghanistan. View quote
Hamid Karzai
We are not America. We are Afghanistan. (Hamid Karzai)
Once the Afghan people vote and they choose their President with direct, secret ballot from all over the country, there will be a lot of difference in this country and a lot of legitimate power to flow with implementation. View quote
Hamid Karzai
As the country now turns a new leaf, our ambition is to give hope to each and every Afghan. View quote
Hamid Karzai
I don't think the Taliban will ever come back to take Afghanistan, no. View quote
Hamid Karzai
If the United States is treating Afghanistan as a sovereign country it has to prove it. View quote
Hamid Karzai