José Mujica Quotes: 15 Ideas From Uruguay's 'Poorest President'

15 Quotes From José Mujica, Uruguay’s “Poorest President”

José "Pepe" Mujica, president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, became famous for living the way he talked. He stayed on his wife's small flower farm outside Montevideo, drove a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and gave away about 90 percent of his presidential salary. Journalists called him "the world's poorest president," a label he rejected. What made people listen, though, was not only his lifestyle but his blunt, plain-spoken answers in interviews.

Below are fifteen of his best-known remarks from his years in office, grouped by theme. Rather than reprint long interview excerpts, we summarise what he said, with a few short quotes, and add the background you need to understand each one: the laws his government passed, the history he drew on and where his views were controversial. The remarks were collected from interviews he gave to Vice, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo and others, and were first gathered as a list by Mic.

Whether you admire him or disagree with him, Mujica's ideas about power, money and happiness are worth thinking through, because they ask a simple question that most leaders avoid: how much does a person actually need?

Who was José Mujica?

Mujica was born in Montevideo on 20 May 1935. In the 1960s he joined the Tupamaros, an urban guerrilla movement. He was shot, captured and escaped from prison twice before being recaptured, and he spent around 13 years behind bars, much of it in isolation under Uruguay's military dictatorship, including more than two years held in an emptied horse trough. He was freed under an amnesty in 1985 when democracy returned.

He then entered electoral politics with the left-wing Broad Front, served as a legislator and minister, and was elected president in 2009. During his term, Uruguay legalised abortion in the first trimester (2012), same-sex marriage (2013) and a state-regulated cannabis market (2013), becoming the first country to legalise the cannabis trade nationally. The Economist named Uruguay its "country of the year" for 2013, largely because of those reforms. Mujica died at his farm on 13 May 2025, aged 89, after being treated for oesophageal cancer.

On power and the presidency

1. A president is a civil servant, not a king

Speaking to Al Jazeera in 2013, Mujica described the president as an elected official doing a job, not a god or a tribal witch doctor who knows everything. His ideal, he said, was for leaders to live like the majority of the people they represent. It was the core of his political philosophy and the reason he refused to move into the presidential residence.

2. Staying humble in office

In an interview with Vice, he complained that politicians seem to turn into monarchs as they climb the ladder, and reminded readers that republics were invented precisely so that nobody would stand above anyone else. Palaces, red carpets and crowds of yes-men, he said, were leftovers from feudalism that he found distasteful.

3. Rejecting the "poorest president" label

Mujica told The Guardian he was not poor at all. In his view the truly poor person is the one who needs a great deal to live. He explained that his simple habits came out of his history: after years in a cell, a mattress had once seemed like a luxury.

4. Why he gave away his salary

Asked about donating most of his pay, he told Al Jazeera that he simply kept the way of life he had before taking office. "I earn more than I need, even if it's not enough for others," he said, describing the donations as a duty rather than a sacrifice. The money went mostly to charities and to programmes supporting poor households and small entrepreneurs.

On money, consumption and happiness

5. The "temple of the market"

In the same Al Jazeera interview, Mujica argued that modern societies have swapped old gods for a market that shapes our politics, habits and even our sense of happiness through credit and shopping. "It seems that we have been born only to consume, and to consume," he observed, adding that people feel frustrated and excluded once they can no longer keep up.

6. Living within our means as a species

Talking to The Guardian, he said that with recycling and prudence the world's then seven billion people could all have what they need. The obstacle, in his view, is that we think as individuals and nations rather than as one species. It is an idea he also developed in his widely shared speech at the Rio+20 summit in 2012.

7. The secret to happiness

His answer was to live in line with what you believe, be yourself and avoid forcing your standards on others. He did not expect anyone to copy his lifestyle, he said, but he would defend his own freedom and the courage to speak his mind, even when others disagreed.

On drugs, rights and social reform

8. Opposition to legalising cannabis

Mujica told Vice that every reform has met fear. He pointed to 1913, when Uruguay allowed women to seek divorce, and critics predicted the collapse of the family. He compared such fears with the dress codes of his youth, when you could not get into a dance without a suit and tie, rules that faded without disaster.

9. Addiction and drug trafficking

Mujica never claimed cannabis was good for people. He told Al Jazeera that trafficking does more harm than drugs themselves, and that no addiction, including tobacco and alcohol, is healthy. "The only good addiction is love," he said. Uruguay's law was designed to take the market away from criminal gangs, not to promote use; anyone worried about their own or a relative's substance use should talk to a doctor.

10. Abortion and same-sex marriage

In an interview with O Globo, he said his government had followed one principle: recognise reality. Abortion and same-sex relationships have existed throughout history, he argued, citing ancient figures such as Alexander the Great, and refusing to legislate for them only causes needless suffering. Critics in Uruguay and abroad strongly disagreed, which is a reminder that his reforms were contested, not universally applauded.

11. On age and open minds

In his late seventies, Mujica joked to Vice that it was sad an old grandfather had to be the progressive one. People become old, he said, because of what is in their heads, not because of their birth certificate, and he wondered why some were more shocked by reform than by the violence of the drug trade.

On change, peace and the common good

12. Revolutions versus building a society

Reflecting on youth protest movements, the former guerrilla told Vice that he had seen political springs turn into harsh winters. Toppling a government or filling the streets is one thing, he said; building a better society takes organisation, discipline and many years of work. He sympathised with young activists but urged them to let their energy mature.

13. Helping end Colombia's conflict

When asked whether Uruguay could help bring peace to Colombia's decades-long armed conflict, he told Al Jazeera that any leader trying to open a path to peace deserved support, because settling old scores keeps wars going forever. He was clear that he would not interfere uninvited, but offered to act as a go-between if both sides wanted it.

14. Redistributing wealth

Addressing business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2014, Mujica argued that companies naturally pursue profit, so governments must make sure enough of it reaches workers for them to buy what they produce. Less poverty means more trade, he said, and the most valuable investment is in people.

15. His goals for Uruguay

He described his aim modestly: a bit less injustice, more help for the most vulnerable and a way of thinking about the future that others would continue. He promised no paradise. Life slips away, he said, and the only way to extend it is for other people to carry on your work.

What Mujica's words still offer

Mujica's record as president was mixed. Supporters credit him with social reforms and falling poverty; critics pointed to slow progress in education and doubts about the cannabis policy. What gave his words lasting appeal was their consistency with how he lived. He did not ask others to give up comfort while enjoying luxury himself.

For readers, the most practical takeaways are simple: notice how much of what you want is driven by advertising rather than need, judge leaders by how they live as well as what they say, and remember that lasting change usually comes from patient work rather than dramatic gestures. You do not have to share his politics to find those lessons useful.

Sources: Wikipedia: José Mujica; Al Jazeera: Jose Mujica, "I earn more than I need" (2013). Other remarks come from interviews with Vice, The Guardian (December 2013), O Globo and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce event reported by HuffPost; the original list was compiled by Mic and shared by True Activist.

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