Top 15 Benazir Bhutto Quotes

Democracy is the best revenge.

You see, they think they're saving you, and you think you're saving them. That's where the trouble starts. Someone says, 'I saved you, now here's what I want.' And its the same with big countries and little ones, religious leaders and their followers, even husbands and wives. When things really work, though, it's because people realize that this is a lie, that, really, we all save one another. It's the way of the world. Things work out for the best when everyone makes it, together, when we manage to save each other. (from The Way of the World)

Clearly it's not easy for women in modern society, no matter where they live. We still have to go the extra mile to prove that we are equal to men. we have to work longer hours and make more sacrifices. And we must emotionally protect ourselves from unfair, often vicious attacks made on us via the male members of our family.

You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea.

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 try to reach my father through the bars. He is so thin, almost wasted away from malaria, dysentery, starvation. But he pulls himself erect, and touches my hand. "Tonight I will be free," he says, a glow suffusing his face. "I will be joining my mother, my father. I am going back to the land of my ancestors in Larkana to become part of its soil, its scent, its air. There will be songs about me. I will become part of its legend." He smiles. "But it is very hot in Larkana." "I'll build a shade," I manage to say."

Above all you must study hard. Very few in Pakistan have the
opportunity you now have and you must take advantage of it. Never forget that
the money it is costing to send you comes from the land, from the people who
sweat and toil on those lands. You will owe a debt to them, a debt you can repay
with God's blessing by using your education to better their lives.

Calling an animal and
having it come, planting something and having it grow, become essential. It is
proof that I exist.

Benazir Bhutto doesn't cease to exist the moment she gets married. I am not giving myself away. I belong to myself and I always shall.

[...]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.[...]

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.

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.

As children we had been taught that no price was too high to pay for our country. But the personal price to our family had been high.

...the fight for the truth is important. There will come a day when you will see the result of your struggles. ~Benazir Bhutto

I was brought up to believe that human beings are good, which is why it shocks me to the core when I see human beings behaving badly.