Mohamed ElBaradei Egypt Quotations

The Muslim Brotherhood is a religiously conservative group. They are a minority in Egypt. They are not a majority of the Egyptian people, but they have a lot of credibility because all the other liberal parties have been smothered for 30 years.

Egypt under Hosni Mubarak had deteriorated to the status of a failed state. We must wipe the slate clean and start again.

The sooner we put Egypt on the right track, the sooner we would be able to have an Egypt that is modern, that is moderate, and that is acting as a beacon for freedom and liberty across the Arab world.

I grew up in a conservative household. That was the life of the time in Egypt: a conservative, middle-class household.

Its up to any government to decide how to react to the denial of basic human rights anywhere in the world, including Egypt.

Egypt is indeed deeply divided. Without reconciliation we have no future. The Muslim Brotherhood is an important part of our society. I very much hope that it will participate in the next round of talks. I will be the first to protest if the imperative of fairness isn't adhered to.

You cannot apply your high standards to a country [Egypt] burdened with decades of autocratic rule. Our democracy is still in its infancy.

Egypt needs to catch up with the rest of the world. We need to be free, democratic, and - society where people have the right to live in freedom and dignity.

You don't get the fox to be in charge of the chicken coop. You don't give the outgoing regime - which has been practicing dictatorship, is an authoritarian system, it's a bunch of military people - the task of changing Egypt into a second republic, a new Egypt with democracy, freedom, rights, etc.

The Egyptians have grown in confidence, they've tasted freedom, and there's no way back.

I do not want to see the whole Egyptian people feel protected by my presence. They really have to fight for their freedom whether I'm there or not.

I think the Egyptian people need to restore confidence that Americans, the U.S., means what they say when they talk about democracy, rule of law.