Golda Meir, born Golda Mabovitz on May 3, 1898, is a late Israeli politician and one of the founders of Israel.
Golda Meir served as Israel's fourth prime minister, foreign minister, and minister of labor. In addition, she became the first and only woman head of the Israeli government.
Born in Kyiv, in the then-Russian Empire, Meir moved to the USA in 1906. From a young age, Golda Meir showed signs of being a strong leader. She organized an American Young Sisters Society to raise funds to pay for their textbooks.
After she married Morris Meyerson in 1921, Meir and her husband immigrated to Palestine. They settled in Kibbutz, and Golda Meir became the representative of the General Federation of Labor, which led her to the Israeli parliament.
Eventually, she became the first female prime minister of Israel. Continue reading this article on the most powerful quotes stated by the 'Iron Lady', Golda Meir.
Famous Golda Meir Quotes
Golda Meir made history as the first woman prime minister in the Middle East. She is often described as the Iron Lady of Israeli politics, and for good reason.
Apart from being an excellent politician, she was also a teacher and stateswoman. Read this list of the most famous Golda Meir quotes taken from her speeches, interviews, teachings, and lectures, that will motivate you.
"One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present."
"It is always much easier, I have discovered, to make people cry or gasp than to make them think."
"Those that perished in Hitler's gas chambers were the last Jews to die without standing up to defend themselves."
"The public history of modern art is the story of conventional people not knowing what they are dealing with."
"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."
"Every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values."
"Ability hits the mark where presumption overshoots and diffidence falls short."
"Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you're aboard there's nothing you can do."
"It isn't enough to believe in something; you have to have the stamina to meet obstacles and overcome them, to struggle."
"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."
"There can be no doubt that the average man blames much more than he praises. His instinct is to blame. If he is satisfied he says nothing; if he is not, he most illogically kicks up a row."
"Women's liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's men who are discriminated against. They can't bear children."
"Don't be so humble - you are not that great."
Golda Meir Quotes About Israel And Judaism
(This list of famous Golda Meir quotes will stir your emotions and help you stand up for yourself.)
Attributed as the Iron Lady of Israeli politics, Golda Meir was characterized as a strong-willed and straight-talking leader and stateswoman by the Jewish people. She was a Zionist activist who was passionate about whatever she did. The following famous Golda Meir quotes about Israel and Judaism will give you an insight into her values.
"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it."
"We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel."
"The Soviet government is the most realistic regime in the world - no ideals."
"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."
“Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.” - December 16, 1974, The Observer.
“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.” - November 21, 1956, UN General Assembly.
"As President Nixon says, presidents can do almost anything, and President Nixon has done many things that nobody would have thought of doing."
"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."
"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 was not as if there was a Palestinian people in Palestine and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them. They did not exist."
"We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs - We have no place to go."
"It is true that we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them."
"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 Quotes About Leadership
Golda Meir was the only woman politician appointed to the first Israeli cabinet after their independence. Meir retired from her public life after being invited to lead the Labor Party of Israel. Listed below are popular Golda Meir quotes about her journey toward being a successful leader and the leadership qualities that everyone must have.
"A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader."
"Ability hits the mark where presumption overshoots and diffidence falls short."
"I never did anything alone. Whatever was accomplished in this country was accomplished collectively."
"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived."
"You'll never find a better sparring partner than adversity."
"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."
"I prefer to stay alive and be criticized than be sympathized."
"Whether women are better than men I cannot say - but I can say they are certainly no worse."
"We don't thrive on military acts. We do them because we have to, and thank God we are efficient."
"There's no difference between one's killing and making decisions that will send others to kill. It's exactly the same thing, or even worse."
"To be successful, a woman has to be much better at her job than a man."
"The dog that trots about finds a bone."
"I'm a slave to this leaf in a diary that lists what I must do, what I must say, every half hour."
"The only alternative to war is peace and the only road to peace is negotiations."
Golda Meir Quotes About Peace
On October 7, 1957, Golda Meir's speech on peace in the Middle East, defined peace and prosperity as cooperation between nations and good neighborliness among all. Meir believed in building equal citizenship and representing all institutions with peace.
"Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement."
“To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don't be.” - December 12, 1974, The New York Times.
"Fashion is an imposition, a rein on freedom."
"There is no such thing as a Palestinian."
"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life."
"My dear, old age is like an airplane flying in a storm. Once you're in it there's nothing you can do. You can't stop a plane, you can't stop a storm, you can't stop time. So you might as well take it easy, with wisdom."
“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.” - 1973, Fallaci Interview.
"If we have to have a choice between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image, we'd rather be alive and have the bad image."
"Those who don't know how to weep with their whole heart, don't know how to laugh either."
"There is no Zionism except the rescue of Jews."
"You can't improve on saying nothing."
"Glorious bouquets and storms of applause are the trimmings which every artist naturally enjoys."
