Golda Meir (1898–1978,) born Golda Mabovitch, was an Israeli political leader who served as prime minister from 1969 until 1974. She was the “Iron Lady of Israeli Politics,” and gained a reputation as a straight-talking, obstinate leader.
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Meir was educated in the United States. She moved to Palestine in her twenties after World War I and became head of the Jewish Labour Movement.
One of the signatories on Israel’s Declaration of Independence in 1948, Meir became ambassador to the Soviet Union. She got elected to the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) and held many ministerial positions until she retired in her late sixties. When Prime Minister Levi Eshkol died suddenly, Meir was called back to take his place. She stayed in the office for five years.
Meir led the country during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which a coalition of Arab nations led by Egypt and Syria unexpectedly attacked Israel over disputed Palestinian territory. The war exposed inadequacies in Israel’s defense strategy and military intelligence. In April of the following year, when the official report on the war was published, Meir was forced to resign in disfavor.
Meir published an autobiography My Life (1975.) She died after a twelve-year struggle against leukemia.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Golda Meir
A leader who doesn’t hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Battle, Power, Leaders, Leadership
Anybody who believes in something without reservation, believes that this thing is right and should be, has the stamina to meet obstacles and overcome them.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Purpose
We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Nationalism, Nation, Nationality, Nationalities
Whether women are better than men I cannot say – but I can say they are certainly no worse.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Men, Feminism, Men & Women, Women
I want to be able to live without a crowded calendar. I want to be able to read a book without feeling guilty, or go to a concert when I like.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Reality, Opportunities
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
Topics: Opportunity, Silver Linings, Blessings
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
Topics: Success, Rightness, Right
Being seventy is not a sin.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Aging, Age
At work, you think of the children you have left at home. At home, you think of the work you’ve left unfinished. Such a struggle is unleashed within yourself. Your heart is rent.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Difficulty
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
Topics: Worry
Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you’re aboard, there’s nothing you can do. You can’t stop the plane, you can’t stop the storm, you can’t stop time. So one might as well accept it calmly, wisely.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Age, Aging, Flying, Strength
Authority poisons everybody who takes authority on himself.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Control, Authority, One liners
I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.
—Golda Meir
To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don’t be.
—Golda Meir
Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Judaism, Religion, Jews, Luxury
Women’s Liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It’s the men who are discriminated against. They can’t bear children. And no one’s likely to do anything about that.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Feminism, Men, Mothers, Women
Fashion is an imposition, a reign on freedom.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Fashion
Don’t be so humble, you’re not that great.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Great, Humility
We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Victory
One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Lessons from The past, Past and Present
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
Topics: Grief, Vision, Commitment, Crying
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