I've worked with 10 presidents. It's a record. I worked with Republicans and Democrats. All of them when it came to Israel were, movingly, friendly. From Truman, who was the first to recognize Israel 11 minutes after the U.N. resolution, to Obama. When it comes to the major issues of security and strategy, we are together, completely.

Shimon Peres

Categorized in : Friendly Israel Issues

The most important thing in life is to dare. The most complicated thing in life is to be afraid. The smartest thing in the world is to try to be a moral person.

Shimon Peres

things-in-life important fear

Optimists and pessimists die the exact same death, but they live very different lives!

Shimon Peres

positive-thinking life death

It's better to be controversial for the right reasons, than to be popular for the wrong reasons.

Shimon Peres

wrong-reasons controversial reason

When you have two alternatives, the first thing you have to do is to look for the third that you didn't think about, that doesn't exist.

Shimon Peres

alternatives two thinking

You're as young as your dreams, not as old as your calendar

Shimon Peres

calendars young dream

In Israel, a land lacking in natural resources, we learned to appreciate our greatest national advantage: our minds. Through creativity and innovation, we transformed barren deserts into flourishing fields and pioneered new frontiers in science and technology.

Shimon Peres

creativity technology land

I read when I get up in the morning, when I can during the day and every single evening. Most of my weekends are spent reading great books. Books are my constant companions. If you eat three times a day you'll be fed. But if you read three times a day you'll be wise.

Shimon Peres

wise morning book

If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.

Shimon Peres

decision mistake facts

To find a cause that's larger than yourself and then to give your life to it.

Shimon Peres

causes giving

You don't make peace with friends. You make it with very unsavory enemies.

Shimon Peres

ubuntu peace enemy

I don't think anybody who carries a rifle carries the future. Because I don't believe that you can really change the world by killing and shooting. You have the change it by creating and competing.

Shimon Peres

war believe thinking

We should use our imagination more than our memory.

Shimon Peres

imagination memories peace

A solution of two national states - a Jewish state, Israel; an Arab state, Palestine. The Palestinians are our closest neighbors. I believe they may become our closest friends.

Shimon Peres

israel two believe

If you eat three times a day, you become fat. If you read three times a day, you become wise. It's better to be wise than fat.

Shimon Peres

fats three wise

Our problem is not to submit to the differences but to overcome them.

Shimon Peres

differences problem overcoming

For me, dreaming is simply being pragmatic.

Shimon Peres

pragmatic dream

I think peace should be done not only among governments but among people. It was impossible before the Facebook.

Shimon Peres

government people thinking

The Holocaust is a great warning to us all. We shall never forget our sisters and brothers. We have to ensure it is not repeated and to ensure we never go back to the days when humans behaved as beasts. Forgetfulness is a menace, we must remember.

Shimon Peres

holocaust brother warning

You can kill a thousand; you can bring an end to life; you cannot kill an idea.

Shimon Peres

thousand ends ideas

There is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary.

Shimon Peres

jew england hate