Golda Meir Quotes (38 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

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Golda Meir

Golda Meir: 38 quotes 64 likes

Famous Golda Meir Quotes

“When peace comes, we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons.”

Golda Meir

Press conference in London (1969), as quoted in A Land of Our Own : An Oral Autobiography (1973) edited by Marie Syrkin, p. 242
Variant: When peace comes, we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons.

“I prefer to stay alive and be criticized than be sympathized.”

Golda Meir

Fallaci interview (1973)

“There were no such thing as Palestinians.”

Golda Meir

When was there an independent Palestinian people with a Palestinian state? It was either southern Syria before the First World War, and then it was a Palestine including Jordan. It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them. They did not exist.
As quoted in Sunday Times (15 June 1969), also in The Washington Post (16 June 1969)

“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.”

Golda Meir

Fallaci interview (1973)

“When were Palestinians born? What was all of this area before the First World War when Britain got the Mandate over Palestine? What is Palestine, then? Palestine was then the area between the Mediterranean and the Iraqian border. Eastern West Bank was Palestine. I am a Palestinian, from 1921 and 1948, I carried a Palestinian passport. There was no such thing in this area as Jews, and Arabs, and Palestinians, There were Jews and Arabs.”

Golda Meir

"Iron Lady of Israeli politics" Thames TV (1970)

“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.”

Golda Meir

On 30th anniversary of the founding of Israel, in International Herald Tribune (11 May 1978)

Golda Meir Quotes about war

“I don’t know why you use a fancy French word like détente when there’s a good English phrase for it — cold war.”

Golda Meir

As quoted in Newsweek (19 January 1976)

“We hate war. We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown, and when strawberries bloom in Israel.”

Golda Meir

As quoted in As Good as Golda : The Warmth and Wisdom of Israel's Prime Minister (1970) edited by Israel Shenker and Mary Shenker, p. 28
Context: We owe a responsibility not only to those who are in Israel but also to those generations that are no more, to those millions who have died within our lifetime, to Jews all over the world, and to generations of Jews to come. We hate war. We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown, and when strawberries bloom in Israel.

“We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon — no alternative.”

Golda Meir

As quoted in LIFE magazine (3 October 1969), p. 32
Context: We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon — no alternative. 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.

“It is true we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them. We don't want victories anymore.”

Golda Meir

Source: As quoted in LIFE magazine (3 October 1969), p. 32

Golda Meir Quotes about men

“Whether Women are better than men, I can say they are certainly no worse.”

Golda Meir

Golda Meir Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved July 7, 2022.

“Those nuts that burn their bras and walk around all disheveled and hate men? They’re crazy. Crazy.”

Golda Meir

Fallaci interview (1973)

“How can I explain the difference to me between America and Russia?… the America I’ve known is a place where men on horseback escort union marchers, the Russia I’ve known is a place where men on horseback slaughter young Socialists and Jews.”

Golda Meir

Fallaci interview (1973)

“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.”

Golda Meir

As quoted in Newsweek (23 October 1972)

Golda Meir Quotes

“In Israel, we read from right to left.”

Golda Meir

To Henry Kissinger, US Secretary of State, who had written her that he considers himself 'an American first, Secretary of State second, and a Jew third'
Source: https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=kOICAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=Golda+Meir+In+Israel,+we+read+from+right+to+left.&source=bl&ots=JVGhSq8aqj&sig=i0y3YiXiGFjO7UPRpBvAP36p6e0&hl=es-419&sa=X&ei=zpOgVJjnDIuVNvJK&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Golda%20Meir%20In%20Israel%2C%20we%20read%20from%20right%20to%20left.&f=false

Reading

“It is not only a matter, I believe, of religious observance and practice. To me, being Jewish means and has always meant being proud to be part of a people that has maintained its distinct identity for more than 2,000 years, with all the pain and torment that has been inflicted upon it.”

Golda Meir book My Life

My Life (1975), p. 459

Pain , People , Parting

“From Russia I didn’t bring out a single happy memory, only sad, tragic ones. The nightmare of pogroms, the brutality of Cossacks charging young Socialists, fear, shrieks of terror …”

Golda Meir

Fallaci interview (1973)

Sadness , Fear , Memory , Happiness

“What person with any sense likes himself? I know myself too well to like myself.”

Golda Meir

Fallaci interview (1973)

Sense , Personality

“Any one who speaks in favor of bringing the Arab refugees back must also say how he expects to take the responsibility for it, if he is interested in the state of Israel. It is better that things are stated clearly and plainly: We shall not let this happen.”

Golda Meir

Speech to the Knesset, reported in Ner (October 1961)

“[The Soviet government] is the most realistic regime in the world — no ideals.”

Golda Meir

Source: https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=WWMHAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA132&dq=%5BThe+Soviet+government%5D+is+the+most+realistic+regime+in+the+world+%E2%80%94+no+ideals.&hl=es-419&sa=X&ei=YpSgVOShKoyogwT9loTIAg&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%5BThe%20Soviet%20government%5D%20is%20the%20most%20realistic%20regime%20in%20the%20world%20%E2%80%94%20no%20ideals.&f=false

World

“To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don’t be.”

Golda Meir

When questioned on Israel's future, in The New York Times (12 December 1974)

Question

“We don’t thrive on military acts. We do them because we have to, and thank God we are efficient.”

Golda Meir

Vogue (July 1969)

God

“I have given instructions that I be informed every time one of our soldiers is killed, even if it is in the middle of the night. When President Nasser leaves instructions that he is to be awakened in the middle of the night if an Egyptian soldier is killed, there will be peace.”

Golda Meir

Source: https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=iFsKDzuRfNkC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=I+have+given+instructions+that+I+be+informed+every+time+one+of+our+soldiers+is+killed,+even+if+it+is+in+the+middle+of+the+night.+When+President+Nasser+leaves+instructions+that+he+is+to+be+awakened+in+the+middle+of+the+night+if+an+Egyptian+soldier+is+killed,+there+will+be+peace.&source=bl&ots=uyEzv-aQ4v&sig=ee9r_1Rchk34xECFV2PoqgnTLYk&hl=es-419&sa=X&ei=_ZOgVNjyBZKDNsT6gbAL&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=I%20have%20given%20instructions%20that%20I%20be%20informed%20every%20time%20one%20of%20our%20soldiers%20is%20killed%2C%20even%20if%20it%20is%20in%20the%20middle%20of%20the%20night.%20When%20President%20Nasser%20leaves%20instructions%20that%20he%20is%20to%20be%20awakened%20in%20the%20middle%20of%20the%20night%20if%20an%20Egyptian%20soldier%20is%20killed%2C%20there%20will%20be%20peace.&f=false

Peace , Time , Night

“This country exists as the fulfillment of a promise made by God Himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to account for its legitimacy.”

Golda Meir

As quoted in Le Monde (15 October 1971)

God , Country

“One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.”

Golda Meir book My Life

My Life (1975), p. 231

Past

“My delegation cannot refrain from speaking on this question — we who have such an intimate knowledge of boxcars and of deportations to unknown destinations that we cannot be silent.”

Golda Meir

On Soviet actions in Hungary to the UN General Assembly (21 November 1956)

Question , Knowledge

“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!”

Golda Meir

At a dinner honoring West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, as reported in The New York Times (10 June 1973)
Unsourced variants: Moses dragged us for 40 years through the desert to bring us to the one place in the Middle East where there was no oil.
Moses dragged us through the desert for 40 years to bring us to the one place in the Middle East where there was no oil.

“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?”

Golda Meir

On the suppression of freedom of Jews in the USSR to the World Conference on Soviet Jewry, Brussels, in The New York Times (20 February 1976)

“A story once went the rounds of Israel to the effect that Ben-Gurion described me as 'the only man' in his cabinet. What amused me about is that he (or whoever invented the story) thought that this was the greatest compliment that could be paid to a woman. I very much doubt that any man would have been flattered if I had said about him that he was the only woman in the government!”

Golda Meir

Israel’s Iron Lady unfiltered: 17 Golda Meir quotes on her 117th birthday, Yadid, Judd, 2015-05-03, English, Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.654218,

“Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.”

Golda Meir

The Observer (29 December 1974)

“I thought that a Jewish state would be free of the evils afflicting other societies: theft, murder, prostitution… But now we have them all. And that’s a thing that cuts to the heart …”

Golda Meir

Fallaci interview (1973)

Affliction , Evil , Heart

“It is a dreadful thing to see the dead city. Next to the port I found children, women, the old, waiting for a way to leave.”

Golda Meir

As acting head of the Jewish Agency Political Department visited Arab Haifa and reported to the Jewish Agency Executive (6 May 1948); as quoted in "The birth of the Palestinian Refuge problem revisited" by Benny Morris, p. 309/10 of 2nd Edition 2004, citing Protocol of meeting of JAE, 6 May 1948, CZA 45/2
Context: It is a dreadful thing to see the dead city. Next to the port I found children, women, the old, waiting for a way to leave. I entered the houses, there were houses where the coffee and pita bread were left on the table, and I could not avoid [thinking] that this, indeed, had been the picture in many Jewish towns [i. e., in Europe, during World War II]'.

Women , Children , Way , Waiting

“I am also grateful that I live in a country whose people have learned how to go on living in a sea of hatred without hating those who want to destroy them and without abandoning their own vision of peace. To have learned this is a great art, the prescription for which is not written down anywhere. It is part of our way of life in Israel. Finally, I wish to say that from the time I came to Palestine as a young woman, we have been forced to choose between what is more dangerous and what is less dangerous for us. At times we have all been tempted to give in to various pressures and to accept proposals that might guarantee us a little quiet for a few months, or maybe even for a few years, but that could only lead us eventually into even greater peril.”

Golda Meir book My Life

My Life (1975), p. 459

Life , Hate , People , Peace

“Fashion is an imposition, a rein on freedom.”

Golda Meir

Fallaci interview (1973)

Fashion , Freedom

“Arab sovereignty in Jerusalem just cannot be. This city will not be divided — not half and half, not 60-40, not 75-25, nothing.”

Golda Meir

Time (19 February 1973)