“It is easy to rule through fear, but it takes a rare leader to rule through love.”

“An Arab official once asked me about the target the UAE wanted to achieve from launching the first Arab probe to Mars. I told him: we want to send a message of hope to 350 million Arabs that we are capable of reclaiming our future.”

“A great leader creates more leaders and does not reduce the institution to a single person.”

“If we had waited for regional stability to be restored before launching our huge projects, where would we be today?”

“Does running water stop when it reaches a rock? Of course not. It turns either left or right, and continues its way. Likewise, a positive person is confident that no challenge will stand in the way of achieving his or her goal.”

“I once read an article in a foreign newspaper saying: luck smiles back at Dubai. I respond: when they want to diminish your achievements, they attribute them to luck!”

“Arab civilization once played a great role in contributing to human knowledge, and will play that role again.”

“A few mistakes made by a person working productively cost far less than a person paralyzed by laziness or fear.”

“Governments, like people, grow old. They start life small and eager to survive, fuelled by youthful energy and fresh ideas but eventually, with few exceptions, fade into obscurity. Governments, too, can lose the hunger and ambition of youth, and become complacent.”

“Not every rider is a horseman and not every horseman is a knight.”