David Lange quotes

David Lange was a New Zealand politician who served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989. His leadership is remembered for progressive reforms and a strong stance against nuclear weapons. He is credited with transforming New Zealand’s domestic policy and enhancing its international reputation. Here are 38 of his quotes:

Bassett was a member of parliament and a cousin on my father's side of the family. My father delivered him and it became plain in later days that he must have dropped him. (David Lange)
They couldn't, in the National Party, run a bath and if either the deputy leader or the leader tried to, Sir Robert would run away with the plug. View quote
David Lange
After that, whenever I drove past Mangakahia, I would empty my ashtray - and I was a heavy smoker in those days - on the road outside the hall. View quote
David Lange
Greens are not expected to be anything but nice. View quote
David Lange
Lange was hosting a reception at Vogel House for the Chinese politician Hu Yao Bang when the lights went out. Lange immediately asked all the guests to raise their hands because "many hands make light work." The audience complied, and to their amazement the lights immediately came back on. Lange was invited to visit China. View quote
David Lange
Will the United States pull the rug on New Zealand? The answer is no. They might polish the lino a bit harder and hope that I execute a rather unseemly glide across it. View quote
David Lange
I've got two shirts still missing from the Bahamas. I'm sure they are part of a youth camping programme somewhere in Tanzania by now. View quote
David Lange
On a trip to Germany, Lange and his entourage were climbing the tower of an ancient castle when they stopped to catch their breath. "How old is this ruin?" someone asked a guide. "Forty-two years," said Lange. View quote
David Lange
Death is very, very terminal. View quote
David Lange
An itinerant masseur, massaging the politically erogenous zones. View quote
David Lange
My back is so scar-tissued that you couldn't find a place to slip a knife. (David Lange)
To US Ambassador H. Monroe Browne, who owned a racehorse called Lacka Reason: "You are the only ambassador in the world to race a horse named after your country's foreign policy." View quote
David Lange
He viewed humour as a relaxing introduction to many situations. "It is, of course, completely inappropriate in some... but in the end, you know, if you were serious in this job you'd go mad." View quote
David Lange
He's gone around the country stirring up apathy. View quote
David Lange
After a very long year we've got a very short knight. View quote
David Lange
When asked, "Does God help you?": "He's not really in caucus lately." View quote
David Lange
The statement which has been made by the Leader of the Opposition was that the intelligence has stopped. I don't know whether that was a personal confession or whether it was a statement of position. View quote
David Lange
When asked, "So, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?": "I'm going to be a jockey." View quote
David Lange
We are an enemy of the nuclear threat and we are an enemy of testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific. New Zealand did not buy into this fight. France put agents into New Zealand. France put spies into New Zealand. France lets off bombs in the Pacific. France puts its President in the Pacific to crow about it. View quote
David Lange
If the American global strategy is dependent on the ability of nuclear ships to come to New Zealand, then God defend the world. View quote
David Lange
...a sordid act of international state-backed terrorism. (David Lange)
Our military forces are an arm of government, just like the Department of Social Welfare, although probably less able to inflict widespread harm. View quote
David Lange
...an economic ignoramus unfit to oversee a fifty-cent raffle. View quote
David Lange
I wouldn't call the Prime Minister gutless. That's all that's left of him. View quote
David Lange
What a friend we have in cheeses. View quote
David Lange