Famous Golda Meir Quotations

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"Those who don't know how to weep with their whole heart, don't know how to laugh either."
by Golda Meir
"As President Nixon says, presidents can do almost anything, and President Nixon has done many things that nobody would have thought of doing."
by Golda Meir
"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it."
by Golda Meir
"Above all, this country is our own. Nobody has to get up in the morning and worry what his neighbors think of him. Being a Jew is no problem here."
by Golda Meir
"Arab sovereignty in Jerusalem just cannot be. This city will not be divided-not half and half, not 60-40, not 75-25, nothing."
by Golda Meir
"Don't be so humble - you are not that great."
by Golda Meir
"I don't know why you use a fancy French word like dtente when there's a good English phrase for it-cold war."
by Golda Meir
"I never did anything alone. Whatever was accomplished in this country was accomplished collectively."
by Golda Meir
"It is true we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them. We don't want victories anymore."
by Golda Meir
"It's no accident many accuse me of conducting public affairs with my heart instead of my head. Well, what if I do ... Those who don't know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either."
by Golda Meir
"Let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil"
by Golda Meir
"Not being beautiful was the true blessing. Not being beautiful forced me to develop my inner resources. The pretty girl has a handicap to overcome."
by Golda Meir
"The Egyptians could run to Egypt, the Syrians into Syria. The only place we could run was into the sea, and before we did that we might as well fight."
by Golda Meir
"The Soviet government is the most realistic regime in the world-no ideals."
by Golda Meir
"To be successful, a woman has to be much better at her job than a man."
by Golda Meir
"To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don't be."
by Golda Meir
"We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours."
by Golda Meir
"We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel."
by Golda Meir
"We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon-no alternative."
by Golda Meir
"We only want that which is given naturally to all peoples of the world, to be masters of our own fate, not of others, and in cooperation and friendship with others."
by Golda Meir
"What do you gain, Soviet Union, from this miserable policy Where is your decency Would it be a disgrace for you to give up this battle (On suppression of freedom for Jews in the USSR)"
by Golda Meir
"Being seventy is not a sin."
by Golda Meir
"Old age is like flying through a storm. Once you're aboard, there's nothing you can do."
by Golda Meir
"A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader."
by Golda Meir
"Whether women are better than men I cannot say, but I can say they are certainly no worse."
by Golda Meir
"We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go."
by Golda Meir
"Not being beautiful was the true blessing... Not being beautiful forced me to develop my inner resources. The pretty girl has a handicap to overcome."
by Golda Meir
"I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome."
by Golda Meir
"Women's Liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's the men who are discriminated against. They can't bear children. And no one's likely to do anything about that."
by Golda Meir
"...I'm a slave to this leaf in a diary that lists what I must do, what I must say, every half hour."
by Golda Meir
"...I want to see a film, they send the Israeli army reserves to escort me! What kind of life is this?"
by Golda Meir
"Fashion is an imposition, a rein on freedom."
by Golda Meir


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