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Your personality as the prime minister feeds through to what you emphasise, and what you don't, how you'll handle a situation - whether you've got the combination of intelligence or instincts to adapt and to make good decisions.

People innately have lots of solutions. It sounds like an obvious thing, but everyone thinks that they can be prime minister; everyone thinks that they can do a better job.

Being prime minister is a lonely job... you cannot lead from the crowd.

What do you prefer? A prime minister obsessed with being popular, or a prime minister who does the job?

I might be popular, but that is not sufficient in a parliamentary democracy set-up. One has to assess every chief minister, his success and rating in terms of how far he has succeeded in developing his colleagues.

Confidence is a very fragile thing.

I used to say in the cabinet room, 'confidence is not like a can of Popeye spinach - you can't take the top off and swallow it down.' You know, confidence has to be earned.

Every prime minister ... has the responsibility to provide security for his people.

The trust of the people in the leaders reflects the confidence of the leaders in the people.

Confidence is such a fragile and precious thing.