Kamisese Mara Quotes
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The family teaches us about the importance of knowledge, education, hard work and effort. It teaches us about enjoying ourselves, having fun, keeping fit and healthy.
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He said there is 80 of us, ready to come down and the next thing I knew is that Jo Brown dashed in and said your family has already moved and you have to move, the boat is ready to take you out. I didn't have time to ask, even ask a question.
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The first money I have been offered was as District Officer Ba.
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I have never been bribed as a Prime Minister.
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Fiji had experienced the ordeal of two military coups.
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I received my money from the treasury, I used to very early to go the clubs, but when the burden of looking after my children came upon me I tried to live a quite life, and save as much as I could.
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I suspect the psychological pressure associated with that crisis caused the first mental blackout I had ever suffered. It contributed to a deterioration in my health that later required the insertion of a heart pacemaker.
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'Above all there is our fixed joint determination to build a strong and united Fiji, rich in diversity and pampered with tolerance, goodwill and understanding.' (Attributed to Mara by his successor as President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, 10 October 2005).
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If the constitution goes, I go.
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(On his proposal to overcome the ethnically polarized election results with a National Unity government in 1982, which the Opposition declined): 'Fiji was too small to squander its limited pool of talent. Worse still, this division created an atmosphere of frustration that could fester and poison relations.'
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I thought they know that I was the Commander in Chief, not that I know that I am the Commander in Chief, and they should behave; know how to behave to the Commander in Chief.
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(On his Catholic faith): 'Certainly it has been the rock on which I have always been able to rely in good times and in bad, and it is the lodestone of my life.'
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I have been sustained by cane field, the cane plantation I have.
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It is from the traditional family that we absorb those universal ideals and principles which are the teaching of Jesus, the bedrock of our religious faith. We are taught the difference between right and wrong, and about the law, just punishment and discipline.
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Whom am I going to trust if I have to back again.
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How could I stand by and watch my house on fire?
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I was the deputy Chairman of the Democratic Union of the Pacific, and we started at 8 I think and I was called to the telephone and to be told there's a coup, the government has been overthrown - it was round about 9, 10 when the Parliament sat they had done then.
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And I said, yes, if you think that I avoid bloodshed by standing aside, then I will stand aside.
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(Recollection of what he was thinking to himself when confronted by the military): 'They want me out, they want me to abrogate the constitution and this is exactly what Speight wants and if they belong to Speight, I don’t belong to them.'
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It is with obedience to your call that I take up the burden of government leadership for the final time.
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In a multi-racial society, trust, understanding and tolerance are the cornerstones of peace and order.
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Even institutions of State, such as the judiciary, were seriously weakened, to the extent that the citizenry justifiably feared a breakdown in law and order. The business community was hit by a slump in sales and confidence, leading to reduced earnings and loss of jobs.
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At that stage my heart ruled my head'.
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'I had been in touch with a lot of people I thought would stand by me in the front row of the scrum, (I) didn't know it was going to collapse.'