David Ben-Gurion

Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural:…

— David Ben-Gurion

The assets of the Jewish National Home must be created exclusively through our own work, for only the product of the Hebrew…

— David Ben-Gurion

Thought is a strenuous art - few practice it, and then only at rare times.

— David Ben-Gurion

In the land of Israel was born the Jewish nation. There came an order to kill the religious and social spirit of…

— David Ben-Gurion

We must assist the British in the war as if there were no White Paper and we must resist the White Paper…

— David Ben-Gurion

We regard it as our duty to declare that Jewish Jerusalem is an organic and inseparable part of the State of Israel,…

— David Ben-Gurion

You must talk to us as equals, or not talk to us at all.

— David Ben-Gurion

The present map of Palestine was drawn by the British mandate. The Jewish people have another map which our youth and adults…

— David Ben-Gurion

The past is our very being.

— David Ben-Gurion

Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs,…

— David Ben-Gurion

We don't consider manual work as a curse, or a bitter necessity, not even as a means of making a living. We…

— David Ben-Gurion

We have preserved the Book, and the Book has preserved us.

— David Ben-Gurion

We consider that the United Nations' ideal is a Jewish ideal.

— David Ben-Gurion

If I knew that it was possible to save all the children of Germany by transporting them to England, and only half…

— David Ben-Gurion

Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to…

— David Ben-Gurion

From Jewish terrorism against Arabs it is a short step to Jewish terrorism against Jews.

— David Ben-Gurion

The old will die and the young will forget.

— David Ben-Gurion

Courage is... the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to…

— David Ben-Gurion

After eighty, there are no enemies, only survivors.

— David Ben-Gurion

Let me first tell you one thing: It doesn't matter what the world says about Israel; it doesn't matter what they say…

— David Ben-Gurion

The Arabs of the land of Israel [ Palestinians] have only one functionleft to them -- to run away.

— David Ben-Gurion

We should prepare to go over to the offensive. Our aim is to smash Lebanon, Trans-Jordan and Syria. The weak point is…

— David Ben-Gurion

Not the absorption capacity of the land, but the creative ability of a people, is the true yardstick with which we can…

— David Ben-Gurion

If the antisemites want to hate, let them hate, and let them go to hell.

— David Ben-Gurion

We do not wish and do not need to expel Arabs and take their places.

— David Ben-Gurion