Nicola Sturgeon Quotes

People who think of a nationalist party sometimes think 'inward-looking and parochial.' The kind of nationalism I represent is the opposite of that.

I'm the leader of the SNP. I think you would expect me to say I would vote SNP in whatever constituency I lived in.

Labour's support in Scotland depends on their ability to be electable. If they are divided and unelectable, what's the point?

We already know that social security is more affordable in Scotland than it is in the rest of the U.K. - spending on social protection takes up a smaller share of our economic output and our tax revenues than is the case in the U.K. as a whole.

A good education is the most important gift we can give our young people.

I feel sorry for generations of Labour voters and supporters who must look and wonder what on earth has gone wrong and what Labour is for.

My message is a simple one - the E.U. is not perfect, but Scotland's interests are best served by being a member.

I love talking to the public, I love hearing what people have got to say.

Let us put the normal divisions of politics aside. Let us come together as one country; let us seize this historic moment to shift the balance of power from the corridors of Westminster to the streets and communities of Scotland.

I hope nobody in England is afraid of the SNP - there is absolutely no need to be.

It is clear that my predecessor as First Minister is frightening the life out of the Tories and the Labour Party. Long may it continue.

As a young woman in politics, with few women around, you start to subconsciously behave like men in politics. That comes across as quite hard, tough and humorless, but you're trying to be taken seriously.

Politics is a very male-dominated, male-driven profession. I was not just a woman but a young woman, and I suppose you end up trying to behave in a way that you think is expected of you.

Is it not typical that we have a Tory Government that wants, just like its pals in the Labour Party, constantly to talk down Scotland's prospects?

Would I love to think that one day I would be First Minister of an independent Scotland? Of course.

It still annoys me when I read really derogatory things about how a woman looks because you would usually not read these things about a man, and that still has the potential to put women off public life.

In particular, I want to set a challenge to public bodies and private companies to improve gender balance on their own boards.

If there are healthy - and growing - numbers of people working and paying taxes, we are better able to pay the costs of people living longer.

Vote SNP for a party that always stands up for Scotland, that is stronger for Scotland, and a government that will keep the country moving in the right direction.

One thing we've learned is that there's not anything that Nigel Farage won't blame on foreigners.

Clearly, any issues about breaching of expenses rules should be properly investigated.

Because of lower life expectancy in Scotland - something that we are working hard to improve - the average woman will get £11,000 less in pension payments than counterparts in the rest of the U.K., even though she will pay exactly the same in contributions.

I'm not a scientist. If there is a risk to our environment, there will be no fracking.

I am quite a shy person. You say that to people, and they say, 'You do interviews, speeches. How can you be shy?' But, fundamentally, I am.

I like Indian takeaway.

Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, it is possible for other parties to change the direction of a government without bringing a government down.

Polls can change; people's opinions can change. Voting intentions can change, and I think it would be a silly leader, a silly political party, that would assume that we have it sewn up.

I think Scotland will become an independent country. I've always believed that. It means that if I'm right on that, there has to be another referendum at some stage. But the timing and circumstances of that will require careful judgment.

I'm manifestly not the same as Alex Salmond. I'm a different gender, for example ... I'm being flippant, but maybe this is a partly gender-driven difference: I'm very keen that we find a way of reaching out across party divides to find things we agree on, as well as the things we disagree on.

I am a believer in people succeeding on merit.

I am quite driven. I know what I think, and I know what I want to achieve, but I also hope that people who are asked to describe me would describe me as pretty down-to-earth, loyal, friendly. The more experience I have got in politics, I think the more I have allowed me to shine through.

If there is a 'Leave' vote in England and across the U.K. as a whole, then we see the reins of power being seized by politicians who are on the right of the Conservative party.

My political awakening, if I can be as grand as to call it that, was all about what was happening around me. It wasn't some romantic, patriotic vision of Scotland going back to what it had been 300 years previously.

I'm not going to do anything that heralds in a Tory government.

Many hard working people in low paid jobs get housing benefit.

If you have a Tory government at Westminster that takes us out of Europe against our will, there may be people in Scotland who think, 'You know what, we might be better off independent.'

Scotland is not a region of the U.K.; Scotland is a nation, and if we cannot protect our interests within a U.K. that is going to be changing fundamentally, then that right of Scotland to consider the options of independence has to be there.

I was fascinated, long before I joined the SNP, in the world around me; current affairs really interested me.

I've not hidden and I'll never hide the fact that I want Scotland to be an independent country. But as long as we're part of the Westminster system, it's really important to people in Scotland that we get good decisions coming out of Westminster. So we've got a vested interest in being a constructive participant.

Men - the colour of their tie is the most difficult decision they have to make every day.

The U.K.'s debt belongs legally to Westminster, so Scotland, by definition, can't default on it.

I'm a politician, and as you know, politicians are rarely very funny.

I think it is disgraceful. I think it is completely disgusting that you've got a candidate for prime minster who seems to think that human beings are bargaining chips.

I don't cook very often. Actually, I'd go further: I can't cook.

Maybe unlike a lot of people who join the SNP today, I never had any expectation of a political career.

This government and the party that I lead will continue to argue an alternative to the Tory-Labour austerity.

Talent is really important in politics, but experience is also really important.

I do struggle to identify an occasion when I was held back because I'm a woman ... You don't think about it at the time, but looking back at it, of course.

I thought if people were going to talk about what I wear, wouldn't it be good if they were talking about who designed it, who made it and if that's a Scottish company, so teaming up with Totty Rocks has been fantastic.

Scotland almost invented the modern world. I mean, all of these televisions, telephones, penicillin, we all - all of these things were invented in Scotland.

I am a social democrat - I believe in pursuing greater equality and tackling social justice - but ... you can't do that unless you have got a strong economy, unless you have got a vibrant business base earning the wealth that makes that possible.

I've not had a deliberate image makeover.

Any politician or campaigner trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public won't get very far.

Since I became First Minister, I have made clear my priority to alleviate poverty and tackle inequality in Scotland. Ensuring that everyone can do better in life will not only make Scotland fairer, but it will also make it a more prosperous place.

We've chosen to stay part of the Westminster system, but we don't want to be a forgotten, sidelined part of it.

Maybe its time for politicians to fight back a little bit in terms of this notion that politicians are all in it for themselves, we're all the same, we're not driven by sincere motives. Because the fact of the matter is the vast majority are.

Instead of an end to austerity, Labour has made clear that it wants to impose more austerity cuts.

Some of the brightest and best women in our society are stifled in their ambitions.

I am quite hot-headed; I am quite impulsive. Fortunately, it doesn't last very long.

I've got absolutely no desire or intention of damaging England.

I think the first decision I took when I became a government minister was to reverse the planned closure of Monklands Accident and Emergency. It's an issue close to my heart.

I won't say I've never felt in Alex Salmond's shadow, but latterly, when Alex was leader, I didn't. It's more about my awareness of the fact I became First Minister during a parliamentary term. That means you're First Minister, but you haven't been elected in your own right as First Minister.

As a veteran of many campaigns, I know how important it is not let up in the last few days.

Voting Labour in the past hasn't protected Scotland against Tory governments.

I was very proud, on just my second day in office, to appoint a gender-balanced cabinet - one of only three in the developed world.

My politics are wildly different from hers, but someone who has been good for women in politics, stamped her authority on European and world affairs, is Angela Merkel.

Social media is natural to me, and it's a very immediate way of saying something. It's the way politics are done these days. In modern politics, you can't ignore that even if you wanted to. I can't imagine doing politics without it.

It is one of the little known facts about modern Scottish politics that it is not quite as cut-throat as people think it is.

If something can be proven to work, we should try it ... Making sure that our young folk get the best education is the only thing that matters to me, and if something can be shown to work in doing that or if something's worth trying to do that, then I'll certainly be in the market for it.

There's nothing in my background that would have said I was destined to be a senior politician.

The oil and gas sector in the North Sea does have a strong future if we do the right things now, but we've got to make sure that the infrastructure is right to support the sector, but also to support, over the next few years, diversification as well.

The debate around the ageing population should, in my view, focus much more on how we grow the active, working population.

For me, personally, it has been humbling since I became First Minister to speak to women and girls and have them tell me how much it means to them to have a woman in the top job in politics in Scotland.

The assumption that people sometimes make is that I have made a cold, calculated decision to put my career ahead of having family, and that's not true.

What a war in Iraq will not do is bring about peace in the Middle East or end the injustices that feed resentment and breed terrorists.

Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap.

Taxing people for having a spare bedroom and forcing them into rent arrears or the possibility of losing homes they have lived in for years has always been a cruel and heartless measure, and so it is good that the Scottish Parliament has been able to step in.

A whole range of things are done to ensure services remain safe and sustainable because that is the absolute paramount duty of the health board.

Scotch beef, salmon and shellfish are recognised the world over for their excellence and Scottish provenance. People recognise the Scottish brand. They associate the country with quality food and drink, and clearly other Scottish sectors, such as dairy, can benefit from that, too.

Sporting success doesn't happen by accident. It takes hard work and determination on the part of the individual athletes. And it also takes investment in facilities and training support.

We all need support and friendship, regardless of circumstances. But where do people turn when friends and family are simply no longer there, or can't help us through a difficult time, or need all our care and attention and can't give us any in return? Thank goodness for befriending projects, who help fill the empty spaces where care, support and a listening ear need to be.

One of the attributes Glasgow is best known for all over the world is the friendliness of her people.

I believe we should support people to live, and I am therefore in favour of good quality palliative care.

It is hard to overstate the economic importance of the U.S.A. to Scotland, and that makes it essential that we engage with companies and potential investors and get the message across that we are open for business.

These are human beings with real lives and the uncertainty and the fear that any of them face right now could be ended at a stroke if we had all the candidates for prime minister simply say that the right to remain here is not in question and I call again upon Theresa May and on the current prime minster to do that. That would be the humane thing to do and I even at this stage hope that that's a direction they will take.

The U.K. government sets a cap on how much can be spent on discretionary housing payments.

An independent Scotland could afford pensions full stop - after all, it is our taxes and national insurance contributions that fund them now.

My early years as a political activist were dominated by the poll tax.

The Scottish Government's international development work began in 2005 with a £3 million budget focused solely on Malawi, reflecting the historic links between our two countries.

There can be no greater privilege in life than to be chosen to lead your country.

An independent Scotland - like all countries - will face challenges, and we will have our ups and downs. But the decisions about how we use our wealth will be ours.

U.K. welfare cuts are pushing more children into poverty; that is beyond dispute.

The fact is that co-operation between independent countries - to our mutual advantage - is the way of the modern world.

Glasgow is a great city.

I think the Tories are doing - and are intent on doing - damage to things I hold dear.

Most politicians come into politics because they want to make a difference; we just have different ideas how to do it.

I have said repeatedly I do want to take longer to eliminate the deficit than the other parties. Because I want to see us have the ability to invest more in our economy, in our public services, and in lifting people out of poverty.

Many people from many different walks of life have marriages that break up, and those are deeply personal, deeply painful but ultimately private matters.

A minority government can't govern without support from other parties.

Being a housewife is not important to me, but I'm never happier than when I come home and shut the door.