Internal Strength

Being small opens us to many vulnerabilities which larger nations do not face [...] But smallness also confers us certain benefits which we should not discount [..] The most important factor is our internal strength, our national life-force. What we must have is a sense of ourselves and of our own separateness and identity. This is not a question of economics or politics or technology. It is a moral question and a spiritual question. To put it in another way, deep inside the heart of every Singaporean, what is he or she? If the sense of being Singaporean is in our very heart and soul, then we will survive even if we are temporarily conquered and occupied, and if we are dispersed the way the Kuwaitis were after the Iraqi army walked into Kuwait in August 1990. We will continue to live on as an idea and that idea will enable us to gather together again on this island. The Jews never lost the idea of Israel since defeat and dispersal by the Romans 2000 years ago. For a long time, they said to each other "next year in Jerusalem". They finally succeeded when the State of Israel was established in 1948. But the Jewish state confronts an opposing idea in Palestine, which is another potent force seeking expression in a physical reality. Until the idea of Israel and the idea of Palestine can co-exist in some way, there will be no enduring peace in the Middle East.

Speech by George Yeo at the Temasek Seminar in 1996

Venice instead turned her insularity to advantage. Always sensitive to the requirements of trade, which was her lifeblood, the city-state established a system of administration founded on constitutional principles, the rule of law and the collective interests of her merchants. Slowly but steadily, with each invasion successfully repelled, with each crisis successfully overcome, she developed in her people that famous Venetian spirit that bonded Venetians everywhere together. A tradition of public service supplied the men of ability she needed for effective governance.

"Venice and Singapore: A Study in Parallels" - George Yeo

A Stern Taskmaster

His own philosophy, in his own words, has long been a personal inspiration to me. Typically, he credited it to his seafaring grandfather. "The sea, like life itself is a stern taskmaster," he recalled. "The best way to get along with either is to learn all you can, then do your best, and don't worry--especially about things over which you have no control."

Gerald Ford - Remarks at the U.S.S. Nimitz Commissioning Ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia

Man, not the earth, makes civilization

The influence of geographic factors diminishes as technology grows. The character and contour of a terrain may offer opportunities for agriculture, mining, or trade, but only the imagination and initiative of leaders, and the hardy industry of followers, can transform the possibilities into fact; and only a similar combination (as in Israel today) can make a culture take form over a thousand natural obstacles. Man, not the earth, makes civilization.

"The Lessons of History" by Will and Ariel Durant

I was proud to wear my country's uniform

I don't pretend that my own military experience matches in any way what others here have been through. I didn't do the most, or run the gravest danger. But I was proud to wear my country's uniform. And my own experiences gave me strong beliefs about America's obligation to keep our national defenses strong.

"Gore Tells Fellow Veterans He Is Dedicated to Military"

Vietnam certainly matured me in a hurry. It gave me a tolerance for complexity. I didn’t change my conclusions about the war being a terrible mistake, but it struck me that opponents to the war, including myself, really did not take into account the fact that there were an awful lot of South Vietnamese who desperately wanted to hang onto what they called freedom. Coming face to face with those sentiments [in the local people] was something I was naively unprepared for.

Al Gore on Homeland Security

Relevant and Less So Relevant Experiences

I developed a healthy respect for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and learned much from their successes and setbacks. Some of their experiences were profoundly relevant to us; others, less so. One day, while drawing up the layout for operational planning in the Air Force Command Post, Israeli Air Force Colonel Yaakov Gal objected to having different rooms for the planning teams. I had noticed this arrangement in their command post. He replied that Israelis constantly and loudly argued with one another and needed separate spaces for a bit of quiet. In Singapore's case, we were less boisterous and could do with more debate and interactions.

"Reflections on Singapore-Israel Relations" by George Yeo