Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

“My successor will be my son. He will be the next Shah of Iran.”

“I want the standard of living in Iran in ten years' time to be exactly on a level with that in Europe, and in twenty years' time ahead of the United States.”

“History will be our judge.”

“The oil is a gift that should be used to build a country.”

“I had to decide whether to kill my own people or leave. I chose to leave.”

“When the mobs burned the theatres, I said to myself, 'Good. Let them see a movie in a mosque.'”

“Women are important in a man's life only if they're beautiful and charming and keep their femininity.”

“I am not a dictator. I have never been a dictator.”

“Nobody can be set to penance for his thoughts.”

“In a country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation. The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat.”

“We are not a land of cringing slaves, we are a land of free men.”

“I have a certain role, I have a certain duty. I have to perform that.”

“We have to get rid of this cancer of corruption.”

“I believe in the destiny of my country.”

“A king who does not need to account for his actions to anybody, is a king who is not a king.”