Nicola Sturgeon quotes:

Ed Balls has made it crystal clear that, left to its own devices, a Labour government would simply carry on with the same budget policies as the Tories.

Of course, aid is only one small part of international development. Some of the greatest benefits to the world's poorest can be achieved through policy changes by developed countries.

The importance of education is ingrained in Scottish history.

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.

Thatcher was the motivation for my entire political career. I hated everything she stood for.

True gender equality in Scotland - and elsewhere - is still some way off.

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.

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

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

American companies based in Scotland employ large numbers of people - in fact, we are the best performing part of the U.K., outside London and the southeast of England when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment.

Glasgow is a great city.

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

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.

The total impact of the Tory/Liberal tax, welfare and public spending changes has hit the poorest 10% in society disproportionately hard - and women have been affected even more badly than men.

The fact that healthier lifestyles and advances in medicine mean that we are living longer is actually something to be celebrated.

For parents - women in particular - good quality, affordable childcare is vital.

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.

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.

The Scottish Government will continue to do all it can to get people into work.

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.

For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it is a much rarer event.

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.

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

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.

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

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

English businesses would face massive transaction costs if Scotland, their second biggest export market, used a different currency.

I and Alex Salmond are not in competition - we are on the same side; we are on the same team, working together.

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

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

When I was growing up, I was lucky to benefit from a first class education.

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

London has a centrifugal pull on talent, investment and business from the rest of Europe and the world. That brings benefits to the broader U.K. economy.

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

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

Parties that win elections should form the government, not parties that lose elections.

Scotland has a great deal to offer the world in terms of our approach to key economic and social issues.

There is nothing in your background that inherently holds you back or means you can't achieve what others can achieve. You are the master of your own fate, and if you work hard, you can do what you want.

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

It would be a very odd chancellor of any UK government that insisted on a course of action that cost their own businesses hundreds of millions of pounds, that blew a massive hole in their balance of payments and, because assets and liabilities go hand in hand, would potentially leave the rest of the UK shouldering the entirety of UK debt.

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.

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.

I am a believer in people succeeding on merit.

Haggis is delicious. It is wonderful. It's spicy, it's tasty, and you get vegetarian haggis as well.

Trespass, the outdoor clothing company based in the South Side, is run by two of the nicest guys and proudest Glaswegians you could meet, Afzal and Akmal Khushi.

The decision on whether there is another referendum is down to the Scottish people.

I should say that being independent in the modern model means independent in a very interdependent world. An independent Scotland is not apart from the rest of the United Kingdom.

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

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.

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.

Twitter's probably my bad habit.

People in Scotland don't take too kindly to being lectured by a Tory Chancellor.

I am privileged to count many Muslims among my friends - some are amongst my closest friends.

Most people would agree that the E.U. is too bureaucratic, not transparent or democratic enough and that it often interferes too much in matters that are best left to national governments.

I've never had a voice coach, but I am about to name drop horrendously here: I did once get some advice on how to project my voice from Sean Connery, which was lovely. It's all about where you breathe. That's my claim to fame.

Too often in the past, Scotland has been sidelined and ignored in the Westminster corridors of power, but that doesn't have to be the case anymore.

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.

If Scotland was independent, we'd be the 14th richest country in the developed world.

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

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

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.

Not once in my life has the Tory Party come anywhere close to winning an election in Scotland, and yet, for more than half my life, we have had a Tory government. That is wrong and undemocratic.

Because of lower life expectancy in Scotland - something that we are working hard to improve - the average woman will get ú11,000 less in pension payments than counterparts in the rest of the U.K., even though she will pay exactly the same in contributions.

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

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

Tax credits are designed to help people who work hard but who, through no fault of their own, don't earn enough to keep their families out of poverty.

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.

Sad to hear that George Michael has died.He was an exceptional artist and a strong supporter of LGBT and workers' rights.

Scotland's voice has to be heard

So after a lovely family Xmas day, this 80s teen is off to bed feeling a bit sad, but listening to this masterpiece [George Michael: I can't make you love me].

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

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.

This is about sending a very strong message that Scotland does want to stay in the European Union and we're an open country, a good place to live, work, study and to do business and it's really important as we take forward what will be challenging work ahead of us, that we send those messages.

This is just too awful. Such an amazing talent [like George Michael] gone too soon. Wham was part of the soundtrack to my teenage years.

I hope Donald Trump doesn't become president of the United States and I expect the people of the United States will have the good sense not to elect him.