Top 71 quotes by David Ben-Gurion

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I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?
David Ben-Gurion

Taken , Country , Israel

122

David Ben-Gurion quote The State of Israel will pr...

The State of Israel will prove itself not by material wealth, not by military might or technical achievement, but by its moral character and human values.
David Ben-Gurion

Character , Israel , Military

120

David Ben-Gurion quote The present map of Palestin...

The present map of Palestine was drawn by the British mandate. The Jewish people have another map which our youth and adults should strive to fulfill: from the Nile to the Euphrates.
David Ben-Gurion

"Arab Leaders Urge Peace, Israel Refuses". imemc.org. March 30, 2007. Source

People , Scary , Adults

116

David Ben-Gurion quote In order to be a realist, y...

In order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.
David Ben-Gurion

Television broadcast, CBS, 5 Oct. 1956

Believe , Inspirational , Funny

114

David Ben-Gurion quote Let me first tell you one t...

Let me first tell you one thing: It doesn't matter what the world says about Israel; it doesn't matter what they say about us anywhere else. The only thing that matters is that we can exist here on the land of our forefathers. And unless we show the Arabs that there is a high price to pay for murdering Jews, we won't survive.
David Ben-Gurion

Quoted by Ariel Sharon in "The 50 Years War: Israel and the Arabs" documentary, 1999.

World , Israel , Land

107

David Ben-Gurion quote Let us not ignore the truth...

Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country.
David Ben-Gurion

Want , Country , Views

107

David Ben-Gurion quote We regard it as our duty to...

We regard it as our duty to declare that Jewish Jerusalem is an organic and inseparable part of the State of Israel, as it is an inseparable part of the history of Israel, of the faith of Israel.
David Ben-Gurion

Israel , States , Jerusalem

105

It's not enough to be up to date, you have to be up to tomorrow.
David Ben-Gurion

Enough , Tomorrow , Up To Date

It is in the Negev that the creativity and pioneer vigor of Israel shall be tested.
David Ben-Gurion

Israel , Creativity , Pioneers

Since I invoke Torah so often, let me state that I don't personally believe in the God it postulates ... I am not religious, nor were the majority of the early builders of Israel believers. Yet their passion for this land stemmed from the Book of Books ... [The Bible is] the single most important book in my life.
David Ben-Gurion

Religious , Book , Believe

If I was an Arab leader I would never make [peace] with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country.
David Ben-Gurion

"The Jewish Paradox". Book by Nahum Goldmann, translated by Steve Cox, p. 99, 1978.

Taken , Country , Israel

No city in the world, not even Athens or Rome, ever played as great a role in the life of a nation for so long a time, as Jerusalem has done in the life of the Jewish people.
David Ben-Gurion

Cities , Israel , Rome

We must do everything to ensure they [the Palestinians] never do return. The old will die and the young will forget,
David Ben-Gurion

"The Great Catastrophe" by Karma Nabulsi, www.theguardian.com. May 12, 2006. Source

Scary , Forget , Return

If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert.
David Ben-Gurion

Done , Ifs , Experts

Ours is a country built more on people than on territory. The Jews will come from everywhere: from France, from Russia, from America, from Yemen... Their faith is their passport.
David Ben-Gurion

Country , America , Russia

A Christian state should be established [in Lebanon], with its southern border on the Litani river. We will make an alliance with it. When we smash the Arab Legion's strength and bomb Amman, we will eliminate Transjordan too, and then Syria will fall. If Egypt still dares to fight on, we shall bomb Port Said, Alexandria and Cairo.
David Ben-Gurion

"The 1982 invasion of Lebanon". International Socialist Review, Issue 50, www.isreview.org. November–December 2006. Source

War , Fashion , Christian