Benazir Bhutto Quotes

Democracy is the best revenge.

Whatever my aims and agendas were, I never asked for power. I think they need me. I don't think it's addictive. I think, if anything, it's the opposite of addictive. You want to run away from it, but it doesn't let you go. It's doing it again.

If they only showed this much spunk when it came to containing the terrorists I don't think we would have such a problem.

It is one thing being able to contest an election and to give the people hope that I can be the next prime minister. It is a totally different situation where the people of Pakistan are told that the results are already taken and the leader of your choice is banned.

My mother is a Shiite Muslim, as are most Iranians, while the rest of the
family was Sunni. But that was never a problem. Shiites and Sunnis had lived
side by side and intermarried for over a thousand years and our differences were
far fewer than our similarities. What was fundamental was that all Muslims,
regardless of their sects, surrender to the will of God, and believe that there is no
God but Allah and Mohammed is his last Prophet. That is the Quranic definition
of a Muslim and, in our family, what mattered most.

The stories were so extreme I didn't know what to think. The lecture we'd been given about the dangers of rape during freshman orientation week at Radcliffe had initially seemed as unbelievable. I had never even heard of rape until I came to America and the very possibility of it kept me from going out alone at night for the next four years. After the lecture, the possibility of rape at Harvard was real to me. The rape of East Bengal was not. I found security in the official jingoistic line in our part of the world that the reports in the Western press were 'exaggerated' and a 'Zionist plot' against an Islamic state.

It would be so nice to have the luxury just to laze. So nice not to have to always get up and get dressed for some occasion. Always having to move from here to there, where everything is scheduled and even having lunch with my kids on their Easter break has to be slotted in. Maybe one day...

I really do think that there is at least some degree of causality that most major terrorist attacks took place when the extremists did not have to deal with a democratic Pakistani government, when they operated without check and oversight. I believe that if my government had not been destabilised in Pakistan in 1996, the Taleban could not have allowed Osama bin Laden to set up base in Afghanistan, openly recruit and train young men from all over the Muslim world and declare war on America in 1998.

How many times since have I asked God to forgive me for my ignorance? I didn't see then that the democratic mandate for Pakistan had been grossly violated.

I passed from childhood into the world of the adult. But what
a disappointing world it turned out to be. The colors of the sky, the grass, the
flowers were gone, muted and grayish. Everything was blurred by the pattern
over my eyes.

Freedom and liberty, the essays we wrote on them, papers for our tutors, for grades, but did we know the value of those words which we bandied about, of how precious they are, as precious as the air we breathe, the water we drink.

I know death comes. I’ve seen too much death, young death.

Leadership is to do what is right by educating and inspiring an electorate, empathizing with the moods, needs, wants, and aspirations of humanity. Making peace is about bringing the teeming conflicts of society to a minimal point of consensus. It is about painting a new vision on the canvas of a nation's political history. Ultimately, leadership is about the strength of one's convictions, the ability to endure the punches, and the energy to promote an idea. And I have found that those who do achieve peace never acquiesce to obstacles, especially those constructed of bigotry, intolerance, and inflexible tradition.

To make peace, one must be an uncompromising leader. To make peace, one must also embody compromise. Throughout the ages, leadership and courage have often been synonymous. Ultimately, leadership requires action: daring to take steps that are necessary but unpopular, challenging the status quo in order to reach a brighter future. And to push for peace is ultimately personal sacrifice, for leadership is not easy. It is born of a passion, and it is a commitment. Leadership is a commitment to an idea, to a dream, and to a vision of what can be. And my dream is for my land and my people to cease fighting and allow our children to reach their full potential regardless of sex, status, or belief.

[...]Apám eltökélt szándéka volt, hogy hazájába - és gyerekei életébe - elhozza a huszadik századot. Egyszer meghallottam, hogy anyám megkérdezte tőle:
- A gyerekek a családon belül fognak házasságot kötni?
Lélegzet-visszafojtva vártam a választ.
- Nem akarom azt, hogy a fiúk elvegyék valamelyik unokatestvérüket, és bezárják az asszonyt a házunkba, és azt sem akarom, hogy a lányaimat élve eltemessék valamelyik rokon házának négy fala közé - hallottam, nagy megkönnyebbülésemre, apám válaszát. - Előbb hadd végezzék el az iskolát. Aztán majd eldönthetik, hogy mihez kezdenek az életükkel.
Hasonló módon reagált arra is, amikor anyám először adta rám a burkát. Vonattal mentünk Karacsiból Larkánába, amikor anyám elővette a fekete, gézszerű anyagból készült leplet, és rám adta.
- Már nem vagy kislány - mondta, árnyalatnyi sajnálkozással a hangjában. A konzervatív földbirtokoscsaládoknak ezzel az ősrégi rítusával átléptem a gyermekkor világából a felnőtt világba. De milyen kiábrándító volt ez a világ! Az ég, a fű, a virágok színe eltűnt, minden szürke és néma lett. A szememet eltakaró kelme mindent elmosódottá tett. A vonatról leszállva még a járásban is akadályozott a fejem búbjától a lábujjamig az egész testemet beborító anyag. A legkisebb fuvallattól is elzárva patakokban folyt rólam az izzadság.
- Pinkie ma vette fel először a burkáját - mondta anyám apámnak, amikor Al-Murtazába értünk.
Apám hosszú ideig hallgatott, majd így szólt:
- Nem kell viselnie. A próféta maga mondta, hogy a legjobb fátyol az, ami a szem mögött van.* Ne a ruházata, hanem az esze és a jelleme alapján ítéljék meg. - Én lettem hát az első Bhutto lány, aki megszabadult az örök félhomályban töltött élettől.[...]