Quotes by Golda Meir

"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."

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

"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'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."

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

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

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

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

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

"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."

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

"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!"

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

"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."

"Women's liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's men who are discriminated against. They can't bear children. And no one is likely to do anything about that."

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

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

"We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon - no alternative."

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

"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."