Golda Meir Quotes

It is the tragedy of our generation, that small nations have not yet gained the security of exercising their natural right—namely that of being masters of their own destiny.

The British went on fighting like lions against the Germans, the Italians, and the Japanese, but they couldn’t or wouldn’t stand up to the Arabs at all – though much of the Arab world was openly pro-Nazi.

واغرورقت عيناي بالدموع وارتعشت يداي، فهذه هي دولة إسرائيل. لقد عملناها وصنعنا دولة إسرائيل. وأنا جولدا مابوفيتش مايرسون، قد عشت لأرى هذا اليوم. ولا يهم الثمن الذي قد يدفعه أي منا، فلقد أعدنا خلق الوطن القومي اليهودي.

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.

وكثيرا ما سئلت عما أشعر به نحو الألمان، وأعتقد أن هذا هو المكان الذي يجب أن أرد فيه. لقد حتمت علينا حقائق الحياة، رغم مرارتها، أن نتعامل ونتصل مع ألمانيا بعد الحرب، وبديهي أنه لا يوجد شيء يمكن أن يمحو آثار المجزرة. إن ذكرى الملايين الستة من اليهود لا يجب أن تمحي من ذهن البشرية، ولا يجب إطلاقا أن ينساها أي يهودي أو ألماني. وعلى الرغم من أنني احتجت إلى جهد كبير لكي أطأ أرض ألمانيا عام 1967، فإنني كنت أؤيد التعويضات، وحصولنا على الأموال منهم لكي نبني دولة إسرائيل، وكنت أؤمن أن عليهم دينا كبيرا لنا يجب تسديده حتى يمكننا استيعاب كل من بقى من اليهود على قيد الحياة. بل إنني أعتقد أن وجود إسرائيل في حد ذاته ضمان حتى لا تتكرر المجزرة.

I have given instructions that I be informed every time one of our soldiers is killed, even if it is in the middle of the night. When President Nasser leaves instructions that he is to be awakened in the middle of the night if an Egyptian soldier is killed, there will be peace.

There is no Zionism except the rescue of Jews.

A story once went the rounds of Israel to the effect that Ben-Gurion described me as 'the only man' in his cabinet. What amused me about is that he (or whoever invented the story) thought that this was the greatest compliment that could be paid to a woman. I very much doubt that any man would have been flattered if I had said about him that he was the only woman in the government!

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.

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

When were Palestinians born? What was all of this area before the First World War when Britain got the Mandate over Palestine? What was Palestine, then? Palestine was then the area between the Mediterranean and the Iraqian border. Eastern West Bank was Palestine. I am a Palestinian, from 1921 to 1948, I carried a Palestinian passport. There was no such thing in this area as Jews, and Arabs, and Palestinians, There were Jews and Arabs.

There were no such thing as Palestinians. When was there an independent Palestinian people with a Palestinian state? It was either southern Syria before the First World War, and then it was a Palestine including Jordan. It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country away from them. They did not exist.

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

How can I explain the difference to me between America and Russia?... the America I’ve known is a place where men on horseback escort union marchers, the Russia I’ve known is a place where men on horseback slaughter young Socialists and Jews.

Don't be so humble, you are not that great.