Abdullah II of Jordan

“Jerusalem is a time bomb that I fear is just waiting to go off.”

“It's a tremendous responsibility to be direct descendants of the prophet Muhammad. This family has had the burden of leadership on its shoulders for 1,400 years. I'm not going to drop the ball on my shift.”

“Don't take 'no' for an answer.”

“I'm not the type of person that is forced.”

“Many occasions I've sat down with Israelis to say, where do you see your country in 10 years time, and work me back, so we can figure out the synergies and the connections between Israel and the rest of the Arab world. No Israeli has ever been able to answer that question.”

“What keeps me up at night is poverty and unemployment.”

“Historic changes and challenges. Breakthroughs in human knowledge and opportunity. And yet, for vast numbers across the globe, the daily realities have not altered.”

“The Arab World is writing a new future; the pen is in our own hands.”

“I think this is really a defining moment for the Arab world. The problem is, it is all going to be about blood, sweat and tears. In certain countries it may be just sweat, and in some countries sweat and tears, and in some countries, as you can see, a lot of blood. I think initial instability is something that we are all extremely nervous of.”

“If you have a government that is elected, they need to do the hard work - because if they don't, they won't be around the next time the ballot box is open.”

“We're never going to be able to get rid of terrorism, because there is always going to be evil in the world.”

“When there's a status quo, usually what shakes everybody up is some sort of military confrontation, at which point we all come running and screaming to pick up the pieces.”

“Ten years ago I said, you know, my goal is to be able to get food on the table. What I'm trying to say by that is trying to create a vibrant, capable and effective middle class. The quicker and stronger that we can be able to do this, the easier it is for political reform to move forward.”

“Whenever you have a crisis, you're always going to have the extremists taking advantage of the situation.”

“I've benefited from the best of both societies and both cultures, East and West.”

“Earth's dispossessed are vulnerable targets for extremists: those who teach that global justice is meaningless; that satisfaction can come only in violence, division, and intellectual isolation.”

“I personally believe that any country that has a nuclear program should conform to international regulations and should have international regulatory bodies that check to make sure that any nuclear program moves in the right direction.”

“Fifty-seven countries in the world, a third of the United Nations, do not recognize Israel. In a way, I think North Korea has better international relations than Israel.”

“We have peace with Israel. We're actually the last man standing. So there is going to be immense pressure and people asking, 'Why are we having this relationship when it's not benefiting anybody?' Obviously, my answer is you always benefit from peace.”

“You're always going to have extremists in every religion.”