Never one to shy away from confrontation, or bite his tongue, Alex Salmond has hit the headlines regularly throughout his political career.

Here The Herald looks back at some of his more memorable quotes.

INTERRUPTING CONSERVATIVE CHANCELLOR NIGEL LAWSON'S BUDGET SPEECH IN 1988:

"Poll tax for the poor, tax cuts for the rich, nothing for the National Health Service - an obscenity!"

On the Iraq War:

"The illegal invasion of Iraq has been unequivocally proven as a fraud and a massive deception by Tony Blair and the then UK Labour government. Blair's catastrophic toxic legacy is still with us - and threatens to remain with us for years to come."

On Trident:

"Trident is Westminster's ultimate vanity obscenity. A country has the right to say we don't want to possess nuclear weapons, either our own or anyone else's."

On NATO airstrikes in Serbia in 1999:

"It is an act of dubious legality, but above all one of unpardonable folly."

ON his decision to join the SNP:

"I had a blazing row with a [Labour-supporting] girlfriend from Hackney and she said 'if you feel like that - go and join the bloody SNP', so I did."

On being elected First Minister in 2007:

"In this century, there are limits to what governments can achieve, but one thing that any government that I lead will never lack is ambition for Scotland. Today I commit myself to leadership wholly and exclusively in the Scottish national interest."

Following his re-election in 2011:

"We see our nation emerge from the glaur of self-doubt and negativity - a change is coming and the people are ready. They put ambition ahead of hesitation and the process is not about endings, it's about beginnings."

On immigration:

"Historian Tom Devine said 'the nation that became Scotland' evolved from a mix of ethnic groups. The greatest Scottish heroes Robert de Brus and William Wallace came from immigrant families. In modern Scotland we should aspire to be a beacon of hope, diversity and humanity."

On national identity:

"We have an attractive identity and it's all the more so because we don't insist on it being a single identity. People are free to be dozens of different things and we should be confident that Scottishness will be part of that."

On renewable energy:

"Our energy resources can power much of Europe, our energy innovation can power the world. It's a time for Scotland - working with nations and companies from across the planet - to become the intellectual powerhouse of green energy."

Defending his decision to wave a Saltire after Andy Murray's win at Wimbledon:

"Unfurling a Saltire, waving a Saltire, the national flag of Scotland, that's actually what lots of Scots do."

AT THE LAUNCH OF THE YES CAMPAIGN:

"We unite behind a declaration of self-evident truth. The people who live in Scotland are best placed to make the decisions that affect Scotland."

During the referendum campaign:

"We can deliver the power to choose hope over fear, opportunity over despair - we can write a new chapter in the story of this ancient nation."

On conceding defeat in the referendum:

"I accept that verdict of the people and I call on all of Scotland to follow suit in accepting the democratic verdict of the people of Scotland. This has been a triumph for the democratic process and for participation in politics."

IN HIS RESIGNATION SPEECH:

"The real guardians of progress are not the politicians at Westminster, or even at Holyrood, but the energised activism of tens of thousands of people who I predict will refuse meekly to go back into the political shadows."

And his final parting words as he announced his decision to step down:

"My time is over, but for Scotland the campaign continues and the dream shall never die."