Benazir Bhutto quotes
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“In distinguishing between Islamic teachings and social taboos, we must remember that Islam forbids injustice; Injustice against people, against nations, against women. It shuns race, color, and gender as a basis of distinction amongst fellowmen. It enshrines piety as the sole criteria for judging humankind.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan. Directorate of Films & Publications (2008). “Speeches and Statements: Oct. 1993-Nov. 1996”
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“Democracy needs support and the best support for democracy comes from other democracies. Democratic nations should come together in an association designed to help each other and promote what is a universal value - democracy.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : Benazir Bhutto (1989). “Speeches and Statements: Apr. 2-Nov. 14, 1989”
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“I am planning to return and contest the October elections in Pakistan.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“A people inspired by democracy, human rights and economic opportunity will turn their back decisively against extremism.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : "A Conversation with Benazir Bhutto". Interview with Richard N. Haass, www.cfr.org. August 15, 2007.
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“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.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : Benazir Bhutto (1989). “Daughter of Destiny: An Autobiography”, Simon & Schuster
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“Whatever my aims and agendas were, I never asked for power.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“Democracy is necessary to peace and to undermining the forces of terrorism.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“America's greatest contribution to the world is its concept of democracy, its concept of freedom, freedom of action, freedom of speech, and freedom of thought.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“I dream ...of a world where we can commit our social resources to the development of human life and not to its destruction”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan. Directorate of Films & Publications (2008). “Speeches and Statements: Oct. 1993-Nov. 1996”
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“Extremism can flourish only in an environment where basic governmental social responsibility for the welfare of the people is neglected. Political dictatorship and social hopelessness create the desperation that fuels religious extremism.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“The government I led gave ordinary people peace, security, dignity, and opportunity to progress.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“Purusing peace means rising above one's own wants, needs, and emotions.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“To make peace, one must be an uncompromising leader. To make peace, one must also embody compromise.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : "Architects of Peace: Visions of Hope in Words and Images". Book by Michael Collopy, 2000.
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“I have led an unusual life. I have buried a father killed at age 50 and two brothers killed in the prime of their lives. I raised my children as a single mother when my husband was arrested and held for eight years without a conviction - a hostage to my political career.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“I don't fear death. I remember my last meeting with my father when he told me, You know, tonight when I will be killed, my mother and my father will be waiting for me. It makes me weepy... but I don't think it can happen unless God wants it to happen because so many people have tried to kill me.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : "Destiny’s daughter". Interview with Ginny Dougary, www.thetimes.co.uk. April 28, 2007.
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“My father always would say, "My daughter will go into politics? My daughter will become prime minister", but it's not what I wanted to do. I would say, "No, Papa, I will never go into politics." As I've said before, this is not the life I chose; it chose me ... But I accepted the responsibility and I've never wavered in my commitment.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : "Destiny’s daughter". Interview with Ginny Dougary, www.thetimes.co.uk. April 28, 2007.
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“I was a very shy girl who led an insulated life; it was only when I came to Oxford, and to Harvard before that, that suddenly I saw the power of people. I didn't know such a power existed, I saw people criticising their own president; you couldn't do that in Pakistan - you'd be thrown in prison.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“The political parties have unanimously rejected the one-man constitutional changes.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“The best hijab is in the eyes of the beholder.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“As a woman leader, I thought I brought a different kind of leadership. I was interested in women's issues, in bringing down the population growth rate... as a woman, I entered politics with an additional dimension - that of a mother.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“And also 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.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“Right now, they feel they have lost their voice, and their miseries have increased since my departure.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“What is important is that a political party articulates the mood of a generation.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“Oppression does not know the meaning of provincial boundaries. Aren't our energies better spent fighting the common enemy instead of each other?”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“Pakistans future viability, stability and security lie in empowering its people and building political institutions. My goal is to prove that the fundamental battle for the hearts and minds of a generation can be accomplished only under democracy.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“I find that whenever I am in power, or my father was in power, somehow good things happen. The economy picks up, we have good rains, water comes, people have crops. I think the reason this happens is that we want to give love and we receive love.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“While living in America when I attended Harvard in the early 1970s, I saw for myself the awesome, almost miraculous, power of a people to change policy through democratic means.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“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.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“No, I am not pregnant. I am fat. And, as the Prime Minister, its my right to be fat if I want to.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : "Benazir, the steely and vulnerable" by Lyse Doucet, news.bbc.co.uk. December 29, 2007.
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“The next few months are critical to Pakistan's future direction as a democratic state committed to promoting peace, fighting terrorism and working for social justice.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“What is not recorded is not remembered.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : Benazir Bhutto (1988). “Daughter of the East”, Hamish Hamilton
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“The people who resent me do so because I'm a woman, I'm young, and I'm a Bhutto. Well, the simple answer is, it doesn't matter that I'm a woman, it doesn't matter that I'm young, and it's a matter of pride that I'm a Bhutto.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : "Women's Wit and Wisdom : A Book of Quotations" edited by Susan L. Rattiner, (p. 37), 2000.
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“Every dictator uses religion as a prop to keep himself in power.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.
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“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...”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“I know death comes. I've seen too much death, young death.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“General Musharraf needs my participation to give credibility to the electoral process, as well as to respect the fundamental right of all those who wish to vote for me.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“The Holy Book calls upon Muslims to resist tyranny. Dictatorships in Pakistan, however long, have, therefore, always collapsed in the face of this spirit.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“When the United States aligns with dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, it compromises the basic democratic principles of its foundation - namely, life, liberty and justice for all.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“The military destabilised my government on politically motivated charges.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“The United Nations charter gives every nation the right to self defence, therefore when the American embassies were bombed it was a matter of time before the Americans responded by going for what they suspected were the causes of the attack.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“I am constitutionally competent to contest the elections.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“Freedom is not an end. Freedom is a beginning.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : Benazir Bhutto (1989). “Speeches and Statements: Apr. 2-Nov. 14, 1989”
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“Pakistan is heir to an intellectual tradition of which the illustrious exponent was the poet and philosopher Mohammad Iqbal. He saw the future course for Islamic societies in a synthesis between adherence to the faith and adjustment to the modern age.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“Military dictatorship is born from the power of the gun, and so it undermines the concept of the rule of law and gives birth to a culture of might, a culture of weapons, violence and intolerance.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“I've never had a bank account in Switzerland since 1984. Why would the Swiss do this to me? Maybe the Swiss are trying to divert attention from the Holocaust gold scandal.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“Military hardliners called me a 'security threat' for promoting peace in South Asia and for supporting a broad-based government in Afghanistan.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“I believe that democracies do not go to war; that's the lesson of history, and I think that a democratic Pakistan is the world community's best guarantee of stability in Asia.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“Democracy is the best revenge. After Benazir Bhutto's death, her son's brief public remarks were captured on video, and they were reported in international newspapers. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced, "My mother always said, ' Democracy is the best revenge.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“Like all children I had taken my father for granted. Now that I had lost him, I felt an emptiness that could never be filled. But I did not let myself cry, believing as a Muslim that tears pull a spirit earthward and won't let it be free.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“[On Richard M. Nixon:] Americans began with a president who couldn't tell a lie and now they have one who can't tell the truth.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“We learned at an early age that it was men's interpretation of our religion that restricted women's opportunities, not our religion itself. Islam in fact had been quite progressive toward women from its inception ...”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : Benazir Bhutto (2009). “Daughter of Destiny: An Autobiography”, p.34, Harper Collins
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“Being nice should never be perceived as being weak. It's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of courtesy, manners, grace, a woman's ability to make everyone...feel at home, and it should never be construed as weakness.....”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“The military wants a system that protects its policies and privileges.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“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.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : "Architects of Peace: Visions of Hope in Words and Images". Book by Michael Collopy, 2000.
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“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.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“Democracy needs support, and the best support for democracy comes from other democracies.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“Given the right to a free ballot, the people would support my return.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“All our problems, all our disputes, all our disagreements can be resolved quickly to mutual satisfaction if we address the question.”
-- Benazir BhuttoSource : Benazir Bhutto (2007). “Whither Pakistan: Dictatorship Or Democracy?”
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“I seek to lead a democratic Pakistan which is free from the yoke of military dictatorship and that will cease to be a haven, the very petri dish of international terrorism.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
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“The forces of moderation and democracy must, and will, prevail against extremism and dictatorship. I will not be intimidated...Despite threats of death, I will not acquiesce to tyranny, but rather lead the fight against it.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“Bhutto represents everything the fundamentalists hate - a powerful, highly-educated woman operating in a man's world, seemingly unafraid to voice her independent views and, indeed, seemingly unafraid of anything, including the very real possibility that one day someone might succeed in killing her because of who she is.”
-- Benazir Bhutto -
“The U.S. came to understand that Bhutto was not a threat to stability but was instead the only possible way that we could guarantee stability and keep the presidency of Musharraf intact.”
-- Benazir Bhutto
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