John Key Quotes

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John Key

Profession : Politician

Birth : August 9, 1961

You get out of life what you put into it. I think you need a bit of luck but you also make a bit of luck. I think that if you're a pretty decent person you'll get back what you put in.

John Key

You are not going to change me and if you do, it will look like a fraud, it will be a fraud.

John Key

I guess I'm reasonably confident in all honesty. But I definitely don't think I'm arrogant. I'm pretty down to earth, I mean I'm genuinely down to earth.

John Key

I want to leave New Zealand in better shape than I found it. I know the job of prime minister is not forever and I'm going to do the best I can every day to make that difference.

John Key

If I had terminal cancer, I had a few weeks to live, I was in tremendous amount of pain - if they just effectively wanted to turn off the switch and legalise that by legalising euthanasia, I'd want that.

John Key

I care about people's human rights and, as a country, we have a very proud record indeed. But I'm also realistic about what we can do... we can raise those issues with leaders and we can talk about those issues, and we do that.

John Key

We have been given the trust and goodwill of New Zealanders. I do not take that trust for granted, and I never will.

John Key

We are a small, open economy, highly dependent on global flows. It is inevitably a demand that dramatically alters and that is reflected in what we feel here in New Zealand. So there is at its most basic level a limit to what we can do and that is true everywhere.

John Key

I'm often at events when they're quite light-hearted social events when people would want me to kid around.

John Key

New Zealand needs to balance its environmental responsibilities with its economic opportunities, because the risk is that if you don't do that - and you want to lead the world - then you might end up getting unintended consequences.

John Key

Let's just get a deal done then let's worry about expanding it.

John Key

Moral persuasion over a period of time makes a difference, but we shouldn't be naive to think that just because we raise it in a meeting it will make all those problems go away. It won't and it doesn't.

John Key

The public talk colloquially, the public's grammar's not perfect. They kid around and I don't think they overly mark me down for that. They just see me as a normal guy.

John Key

I dare you to show me one example where I haven't discharged my responsibility seriously, professionally and appropriately.

John Key

From time to time I might push a little bit too hard and I have got to be a bit more careful.

John Key

I think it is only natural that people have anxiety about the economy because the economy is real. It is their job, their ability to service their mortgage and look after their family. And in the final analysis, nothing is more important than your capacity as a breadwinner or an earner to provide for those that rely on you.

John Key

I think what happens when you are prime minister is no day is the same and every day you are under pressure. And there is always so much happening that the days just flash by and flash into weeks.

John Key

My mother had an incredibly strong accent - although I couldn't hear it - and she was the main person there, so I'll have learnt to speak English from her.

John Key

The Government has to stop borrowing as much money; if we don't, quite frankly New Zealand will be downgraded and interest rates will go up for all New Zealanders.

John Key

I engage with a lot of journalists, some of them have history and some of them don't, that's not my concern. My concern is to make sure I represent the views I want to represent on those shows.

John Key