Some Juicy Quotes from Shimon Peres's Speech a the WJC today

[Regarding Direct Talks rather than Proximity Talks] it is like the story of the boy who mailed many love letters to his girlfriend. His girlfriend ended up falling in love and marrying the mailman.

No PM was able to do the things he wanted to do, and no PM was able to avoid doing things he didn't want to do

In the last thousand years here in the Middle East, 900 years, Arabs were under the occupation of empires. They regained their nationality in the 1st World War when the French and the British left the Middle East and they enabled to create 23 States. By the way, without the Palestinian State...they decided who would be who, what would be what..

Science doesn't respect borders. Armies can't conquer wisdom.

President Bush tried to introduce here democracy. It wasn't a great success... you go to a king and you tell him today you are a king, why don't you run for elections. It's like coming to a turkey and telling him to participate in a Thanksgiving party. Who would go?

Iran thinks it can run the world. It can't run the world.

For the first time, in history, the Palestinians are building a city. A very modern city.

..We have 7 and a half million people. Maybe 1% of them are senile, about 75,000. 99% of the news is about them...99% are devoted, fair, involved... Occasionally I think it is more of a drama than a country.

When i go to other countries I am bored.

I am not talking about our capacity to debate. That is not new in our history.

We have the best agriculture in the world without land and water.

We are Jewish, and the greatest contribution of Jews to the world is dissatisfaction. A good Jew cannot be satisfied.

But we composed one document, rather short, the Ten Commandments, which is probably the most brilliant document in human annals, 162 words, that nobody has had to change it.. became the basis of the Western civilization.

I don't know if we can achieve it, but I know we cannot stop trying to..

--- President Shimon Peres at World Jewish Congress (you can watch the speech here)