Meir Quotes & Sayings

If Christians see Mormonism as a dramatic deviation from a millennia-old, biblically-based faith, Jews see Christianity in the same light. — Meir Soloveichik

Authority poisons everybody who takes authority on himself. — Golda Meir

Above all, it is not decency or goodness of gentleness that impresses the Middle East, but strength. — Meir Kahane

As President Nixon says, presidents can do almost anything, and President Nixon has done many things that nobody would have thought of doing. — Golda Meir

The dog that trots about finds a bone. — Golda Meir

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

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. — Golda Meir

The sign of a great man is that the closer you get, the greater he seems. — Israel Meir Kagan

Life is essentially a question of values. — Meir Kahane

I am humbled and deeply honored to have been asked to serve the congregants of Shearith Israel, a congregation with an incomparable history, where some of America's most distinguished rabbis have pastored and preached. — Meir Soloveichik

Judaism, I would argue, does demand love for our fellow human beings, but only to an extent. 'Hate' is not always synonymous with the terribly sinful. — Meir Soloveichik

A homing pigeon must love her home; otherwise she will not wish to return to it, — Meir Shalev

Don't be humble. Your not that great. — Golda Meir

This is one of the most dreadful evils of alcohol, that it kills insidiously, as if it were doing no harm, or as if it were doing good, while it is destroying — Martha Meir Allen

Throughout its history, the members of Shearith Israel have observed Thanksgiving by reciting in synagogue the same psalms of praise and gratitude sung by Jews all over the world on festive days like Hanukkah. — Meir Soloveichik

We have our own values; we build our own special, our JEWISH life - and we are proud, so very proud. — Meir Kahane

Jews have been in Egypt since Biblical times, and Alexandria had once been, at least partially, a Jewish city. — Meir Kahane

A woman has to look good, but a man - a little bit nicer looking than a monkey is enough. — Meir Shalev

A society that is all self-interest and no comradeship is not a society at all. But a society that is all comradeship and no self-interest is also not a society; it is a sect - or, on the largest scale, totalitarianism. — Meir Soloveichik

Fashion is an imposition, a reign on freedom. — Golda Meir

Never, ever deal with terrorists. Hunt them down and, more important, mercilessly punish those states and groups that fund, arm, support, or simply allow their territories to be used by the terrorists with impunity. — Meir Kahane

Don't be so humble - you are not that great. — Golda Meir

There's no difference between one's killing
and making decisions that will send others to kill.
It's exactly the same thing, or even worse. — Golda Meir

There is no greater anti-Semite that the Jewish one, and none hates the Jewish people more than the Jewish traitor and apostate. — Meir Kahane

You'll never find a better sparring partner than adversity. — Golda Meir

Those that perished in Hitler's gas chambers were the last Jews to die without standing up to defend themselves. — Golda Meir

It isnt enough to believe in something; you have to have the stamina to meet obstacles and overcome them, to struggle. — Golda Meir

To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don't be. — Golda Meir

The eternal link between Lincoln's life and Passover - the fact that Lincoln's death, marked in the Hebrew calendar, coincides with Passover every year - is certainly fitting, and perhaps even part of the providence that Lincoln began to see in his own life and the life of his nation. — Meir Soloveichik

Rather than forgive, we can wish ill; rather than hope for repentance, we can instead hope that our enemies experience the wrath of God. — Meir Soloveichik

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

I'm sure that someday children in schools will study the history of the men [sic] who made war as you study an absurdity. They'll be shocked, just as today we're shocked with cannibalism. — Golda Meir

The Soviet government is the most realistic regime in the world - no ideals. — Golda Meir

Any one who speaks in favor of bringing the Arab refugees back must also say how he expects to take the responsibility for it, if he is interested in the state of Israel. It is better that things are stated clearly and plainly: We shall not let this happen. — Golda Meir

Jews bear children not only because the carnal election of Abraham must continue. For Jews, raising children is essential to living a rounded ethical life. — Meir Soloveichik

For so long as the Jew has even one ally, he will be convinced - in his smallness of mind - that his salvation came from that ally. It is only when he is alone - against all of his own efforts and frantic attempts - that he will, through no choice, be compelled to turn to G-d. — Meir Kahane

There was no such thing as Palestinians, they never existed. — Golda Meir

It is not only a matter, I believe, of religious observance and practice. To me, being Jewish means and has always meant being proud to be part of a people that has maintained its distinct identity for more than 2,000 years, with all the pain and torment that has been inflicted upon it — Golda Meir

In both Israel and America, Jews have experienced unparalleled freedoms, achieved great economic success, and exercised appropriate degrees of political power. — Meir Soloveichik

Surely it is time for Jews, worried over the huge growth of Arabs in Israel, to consider finishing the exchange of populations that began 35 years ago. — Meir Kahane

We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel. — Golda Meir

Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses. He took us forty years into the desert in order to bring us to the one place in the Middle East that has no oil! — Golda Meir

Can we today measure devotion to husband and children by our indifference to everything else? — Golda Meir

Traditional Christians cannot conceive of God as Mormons do: a God who has a wife, who invites other human beings to become gods with him. — Meir Soloveichik

Over the course of history, many Jews have ultimately embraced Christianity - some forcibly, some in order to advance in non-Jewish society, some out of wholehearted belief. — Meir Soloveichik

We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go. — Golda Meir

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

I continue to dream of a day when my skullcap will not stick out so much. — Meir Soloveichik

Either Jesus is the son of God, or he is not. — Meir Soloveichik

Every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values. — Golda Meir

How can finite man commune with an infinite God? To both Christians and Jews, God himself has made that possible by irrupting into the temporal world. To Christians, God became man in the Incarnation; to Jews, the God that spoke out of the fire on Mount Sinai gave his Torah. — Meir Soloveichik

Mathematics is the summit of human thinking. It has all the creativity and imagination that you can find in all kinds of art, but unlike art-charlatans and all kinds of quacks will not succeed there. — Meir Shalev

By forbidding Jews to destroy their hair, the Bible warns them away from seeking the siren song of eternal youth. By encouraging Jews to grow beards, it reminds them that they will not be young forever, that they must prepare the ground for those who come after, just as their fathers did for them. — Meir Soloveichik

Europe is no longer a Christian continent; few Europeans attend religious services on Sunday, and the European Union recently refused to refer to Europe's religious heritage in its fledgling constitution. — Meir Soloveichik

We don't thrive on military acts. We do them because we have to, and thank God we are efficient. — Golda Meir

If God loves human beings and seeks to relate to them because he is drawn to something unique about them, then his love must be exclusive and cannot be universal. — Meir Soloveichik

Men are committing the rapes. Let them be put under curfew. — Golda Meir

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! — Golda Meir

It is incumbent upon us to understand our greatness and believe in it so that we do not cheapen and profane ourselves. — Meir Kahane

Stanley Hauerwas is correct that Judaism insists on the bearing of children because it is essential to Jewish continuity. But to end the matter there is to miss an essential point: if we are to learn to love others, Judaism says, we must begin by loving those who are closest to us. — Meir Soloveichik

I want to say to you, friends, that the Jewish community in Palestine is going to fight to the very end. If we have arms to fight with, we will fight with those, and if not, we will fight with stones in our hands. — Golda Meir

We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us. — Golda Meir

This country exists as the fulfillment of a promise made by God Himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to account for its legitimacy. — Golda Meir

By that time it was already clear that the next prime minster was going to be Golda Meir, a woman whom I frankly detested - a mutual sentiment, I might add. I knew her as an opinionated, obstinate person, primitive in her outlook, rigid in her attitudes, with a genius for reaching and exploiting the deepest fears and prejudices of the Jewish masses. I was certain that with her as prime minister, all peace efforts would come to a total standstill. — Uri Avnery

Mine is the tongue tied silence of awkwardness, hers the smiling silence of anticipation, and then we utter inanities to each other, like "beautiful weather arranged for us" and "I like these kind of clouds. — Meir Shalev

The essence of a religion can be discovered by asking its adherents one question: 'What, to your mind, was the seminal moment in the history of the world?' — Meir Soloveichik

How can we return the occupied territories? There is nobody to return them to. — Golda Meir

To the Christian Church, the destruction of the Temple served as an ultimate sign that the Jews were no longer God's chosen people, divine favor having now been transferred to a newer and better Israel. — Meir Soloveichik

The world says that time is money, but I say that money is time. In order to earn enough money to satisfy his desires, one must sacrifice inordinate amounts of time. For me, that sacrifice is too great. — Israel Meir Kagan

How does it feel to be a woman minister? I don't know; I've never been a man minister. — Golda Meir

With faith, there are no questions; without faith, there are no answers. — Yisroel Meir Ha-Cohen

Of all the rabbinic sages of antiquity, perhaps none was more influential or famous than Rabbi Akiva. — Meir Soloveichik

Let others take care of the details." That, in a few words, is the meaning of delegating work and responsibility. — Meir Liraz

The world hates a Jew who hits back. The world loves us only when we are to be pitied. — Golda Meir

There is the illusion of the world and the reality of the Torah. — Meir Kahane

I have given instructions that I be informed everytime one of our soldiers is killed, even if it is in themiddle of the night. When President Nasser leavesinstructions that he is to be awakened in the middleof the night if an Egyptian soldier is killed, there willbe peace. — Golda Meir

The only alternative to war is peace and the only road to peace is negotiations. — Golda Meir

In short, Arab leaders committed to the destruction of Israel invented the concept "Palestinian people" in order to justify their interminable war against Israel. — Meir Levi, David

If R. Akiva was perhaps overly generous in judging his generation, it can perhaps be ascribed to the belief, based on his own experience, that everyone is capable of a dramatic life change. — Meir Soloveichik

If we have to have a choice between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image, we'd rather be alive and have the bad image. — Golda Meir

Corresponding to the image of a monotheistic God is monogamous marriage. Marriage based on exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and his people and vice versa. — Meir Soloveichik

We can forgive you for killing our children, but we can never forgive you for making us kill your children. — Golda Meir

Ability hits the mark where presumption overshoots and diffidence falls short. — Golda Meir

The practice of shaving makes its first appearance in the Bible in connection with the story of Joseph, who as a young man was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt, where he was subsequently imprisoned on false charges. — Meir Soloveichik

The only way to eliminate war is to love our children more than we hate our enemies. — Golda Meir

Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself. — Golda Meir

The difference is that if we turn from the Gentile first, we will have the Almighty as the immediate staff and our comfort. If not, we will have neither the Gentile nor, for a terrible stage, the Almighty. — Meir Kahane

It is a dreadful thing to see the dead city. Next to the port I found children, women, the old, waiting for a way to leave. I entered the houses, there were houses where the coffee and pita bread were left on the table, and I could not avoid [thinking] that this, indeed, had been the picture in many Jewish towns [i.e., in Europe, during World War II]'. — Golda Meir

But the individual was not a tool for something. He was the maker of tools. He was the one who must build. Even for the best purpose it is criminal to turn an individual into simply a means for some ultimate end. A society in which the dignity of the individual is destroyed cannot hope to be a decent society. — Golda Meir

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

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

Being seventy is not a sin. — Golda Meir

To be successful, a woman has to be much better at her job than a man. — Golda Meir

There will be peace in the Middle East only when the Arabs love their children more than they hate Israel. — Golda Meir

One of the great problems with Americans is that - being a decent people - they assume that everyone else is equally decent. — Meir Kahane

The deserts of the Middle East are in need of water, not bombers. — Golda Meir

We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon - no alternative. — Golda Meir

The observant Jew has his own sense of values. Torah Judaism is his blueprint for this life, his target for existence. — Meir Kahane

You can get used to anything if you have to, even feeling perpetually guilty. — Golda Meir

The Jew is upset because the nations of the world - the United Nations - lash him, brand him as racist and evil, hate him and openly demonstrate their desire to destroy him. — Meir Kahane