Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Quotations

We've advanced in the construction of a true free-trade area across South America... What's needed now is less rhetoric and more action.

Brazil has rediscovered itself, and this rediscovery is being expressed in its people's enthusiasm and their desire to mobilize to face the huge problems that lie ahead of us.

A war can perhaps be won single-handedly. But peace - lasting peace - cannot be secured without the support of all.

My greatest desire is that the hope that has overcome fear in my country will help vanquish it around the world.

Free trade is very important if we respect equality among nations.

I don't need arms, and neither does anyone else... At the very least, a ban would prevent fights from turning deadly.

You're going to be hearing a lot about one scrappy president.

Here in Davos, it is generally assumed that there is now only one god - the market.

The growing use of biofuel will be an inestimable contribution to the generation of income, social inclusion and reduction of poverty in many poor countries of the world.

A long time ago I learned not to put the blame for backwardness in Brazil on the US. We have to blame ourselves. Our backwardness is caused by an elite which for a century didn't think about the majority and subordinated itself to foreign interests.

I am the son of an illiterate father and mother

No one can wipe away the injustices of centuries in only eight years.

The production of fuel from basic food commodities is, in fact, unjustifiable.

Fortunately, war in Latin America is usually waged only with words. The tongue is our most dangerous weapon. We talk too much!

I respect the path Cuba chooses to take.

I know how to move between political camps. When everyone in the world hated (Libyan leader Moammar) Gadhafi, I paid him an official visit. It caused an uproar - Lula's visiting the devil!

All countries have problems with China's economic power.

Even strong as they are today, rich countries should have no illusion: nobody is safe in aworld of injustices.War will never bring security.War can only generate monsters: bitterness, intolerance, fundamentalism, and the damaging denial of current hegemonies.The poor must be given reasons to live, not to kill or die.

Without Messi there isn't a team for Argentina, Messi is brilliant, different, with a strong mentality. Let's hope he doesn't change.

If with so little we have done so much in Brazil, imagine what could have been done on a global scale, if the fight against hunger and poverty were a real priority for the international community.

It is clear that Messi is on a level above all others. Those who do not see that are blind.

Brazil is in a solid position. In the past, if the United States sneezed, we caught pneumonia. Today, if the United States sneezes, we sneeze too.

I will never tire from repeating my commitment to ensuring that every Brazilian can have breakfast, lunch and supper every day.

Every time he plays, Leo Messi reminds me more of Maradona, both left-footed and short, Messi is the best player in the world, along with Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo. For us it is not a surprise. Since he began to come and train with us and we knew we would go down this path. Someday I will explain that I was at the birth of one of the footballing greats: Leo Messi.

Everyone is innocent unless proven otherwise.

Well-fed people can enhance their dignity, their health and their learning capacity. Putting resources into social programs is not expenditure. It is investment.

No sustainable development, environmental harmony or lasting security will happen if we are unable to eradicate hunger and extreme inequality

When I see Messi - who is the best player in the world in my opinion - lose the ball, he runs off until he gets it back or commits a foul. Our guys lose the ball and fold their arms.

Where there is hunger there is no hope. There is only desolation and pain. Hunger nurtures violence and fanaticism. A world where people starve will never be safe

The true path to peace is shared development. If we do not want war to go global, justice must go global

The fight against hunger and poverty is also predicated on the creation of a world order that accords priority to social and economic development.

Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year.