Quotes by Golda Meir

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.

— Golda Meir

Success

I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

You'll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you're aboard, there's nothing you can do.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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

Wisdom

Don't be humble... you're not that great.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

Whether women are better than men I cannot say - but I can say they are certainly no worse.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

The dog that trots about finds a bone.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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.

— Golda Meir

Success

We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don't be.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

Those who don't know how to weep with their whole heart, don't know how to laugh either.

— Golda Meir

Love

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

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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

Love

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.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom

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

Wisdom

I don't know why you use a fancy French word like detente when there's a good English phrase for it - cold war.

— Golda Meir

Wisdom