Jose Mujica Quotes

Uruguay, Politician
May 20, 1935

José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse muˈxika]; born 20 May 1935) is a Uruguayan politician who served as the 40th President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was imprisoned for 13 years during the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. A member of the Broad Front coalition of left-wing parties, Mujica was Minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries from 2005 to 2008 and a Senator afterwards. As the candidate of the Broad Front, he won the 2009 presidential election and took office as President on 1 March 2010.

Also known as President

I don't want to be an apologist for poverty, but I can't stand waste, useless spending, wasted energy and having to live squandering stuff.

Jose Mujica
- Live
- Energy
- Poverty
We can't avoid that our daily and intimate manner of speaking is sometimes rough.

Jose Mujica
- Daily

If the inmates of Guantanamo want to make their nests in Uruguay, they can do it.

Jose Mujica
If we lived within our means - by being prudent - the 7 billion people in the world could have everything they needed. Global politics should be moving in that direction. But we think as people and countries, not as a species.

Jose Mujica
- People
- World
- Moving
I don't know whether I like this planet or not. But I have to accept it.

Jose Mujica
If I worried about pollsters, I wouldn't be president.

Jose Mujica
There are people who say that you can't experiment... That condemns you to failure.

Jose Mujica
- People
- Failure
The fight against the drug smuggling is lost worldwide.

Jose Mujica
- Lost
- Drug

A lot of people like a lot of money. They shouldn't go into politics.

Jose Mujica
- People
- Money
There are those who believe that power is up above, and they don't notice that it's actually in the hearts of the great masses.

Jose Mujica
- Up
- Great
- Believe
No addiction is good.

Jose Mujica
- Good
- Addiction
I'll shout it if they want: Down with isms! Up with a Left that is capable of thinking outside the box! In other words, I am more than completely cured of simplifications, of dividing the world into good and evil, of thinking in black and white. I have repented!

Jose Mujica
- Up
- World
- Good
I am an austere president.

Jose Mujica
The world cries out for global rules that respect the achievements of science.

Jose Mujica
- World
- Science
- Respect

Fascism in Uruguay did not begin just with the military coup of 1973, but years before, even when there was still a government with a constitution and parliament.

Jose Mujica
- Military
If you don't have many possessions, then you don't need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more time for yourself.

Jose Mujica
- Life
- Time
- Work
Any North American state is more important than Uruguay, in dimensions, in its economic force.

Jose Mujica
- Important
- American
The kids of today have to be better than us. We must strive to create tools adequate for human beings that come with other things that are, at least, different from those we used to have.

Jose Mujica
- Different
- Kids
- Today
The world will always need revolution. That doesn't mean shooting and violence. A revolution is when you change your thinking. Confucianism and Christianity were both revolutionary.

Jose Mujica
- World
- Thinking
- Violence
I learned that one can always start again.

Jose Mujica

All my life I've been rowing against the tide. What can I do? It seems I was born that way.

Jose Mujica
- Life
I give myself the luxury of saying what I want.

Jose Mujica
The political climate during a campaign is not the best climate for reasonable debate.

Jose Mujica
- Political
Publicly, I've never talked about Argentina.

Jose Mujica