Queen Noor Quotes & Sayings

One thing that keeps me awake at night: I am a mother and, I have to confess with great delight, a grandmother of five girls, which gives me great hope for the future - girl power! Can I say that without alienating all of the men? — Queen Noor Of Jordan

As believers we all have an opportunity and moral obligation to recognize our spiritual common ground; to rise above our differences; to combat prejudice and intolerance. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

All of the guests on 'Faces of America' were deeply moved by what we revealed about their ancestry. We were able to trace the ancestry of Native American writer Louise Erdrich back to 438 A.D. We found that Queen Noor is descended from royalty, and that's before she married King Hussein of Jordan. — Henry Louis Gates

A more just world is possible. In most of the global issues, and also in so many of the development issues I'm involved in in our region, the young people that I am working with are seizing the tools at their disposal and trying to use them well, for issues far larger than their immediate personal benefit and concerns. That's what gives me hope. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

My early childhood was spent living by the Pacific Ocean. I carry with me something imprinted by that wide, limitless horizon, which I learned connected us to different people and cultures, including my own family's origins in the Arab World and Northern Europe. I understood early that my world was only a small part of a much larger one. That captivated me. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

The film and media technology that's available today is going to be the most potent weapon in our arsenal in tackling ideological intolerance and ignorance, as well as the kind of fear and stereotyping that can dehumanize the others as the enemy, as being somehow less entitled to the privileges and the aspirations that we have. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

Today, there is no excuse for any one of us to sit back and go, "Ugh! There's nothing I can do about it."Because there is always something that can be done. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

All depend upon the engagement of as many people as possible on all levels, from civil society to national leaders, to advocate for the kind of national and international commitments, legislation, and public/ private partnerships that can make the difference. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I did feel a sense of duty. I felt that it could be a great asset to the future of Jordan, and those continuing the process of building the country, to concentrate on that humanitarian, peace-building legacy. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

Everyone I knew, including my new friends in Jordan, expressed horror at the realities of the Holocaust. But they resented, as I was growing to, how Arabs were cast as the aggressors in the dispute between Israel and the Arab countries, when it was their land that had been seized to resolve a European political problem. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I pretty much always feel gratitude. I thank God throughout the day. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

For all its considerable merits and inspirational principles, the American system is based upon a continuous uninterrupted process of election campaigns, stretching out year after year. Lost in the perpetual scramble is any long-term vision ... — Queen Noor Of Jordan

King Hussein of Jordan dedicated his life - I witnessed it in his sleeping as well as waking hours - to trying to break through the impasses keeping people apart. He understood that the security and prosperity of any one of us in this world depends on the security and prosperity enjoyed by others. As Martin Luther King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." In the Middle East, nothing could be more true. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I have been a long-time advocate for a just Arab-Israeli peace and for Palestinian refugees. Today, as you are aware, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan and Iraq are being overwhelmed by those fleeing the conflict in Syria, often with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Many are severely tortured - abused women and their traumatized children whose husbands, fathers, and brothers have been killed or permanently disabled. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I join all of you who are advocates telling others that they can improve their lives and the quality of their lives and others by taking a few moments, breathing, and allowing one's whole being to become a vessel for positivity. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I've seen it around the world, in the poorest countries and in countries riven with conflict, It is women who are the key to breaking out of poverty, breaking out of stagnation. It's women who can contribute to achieving real security - not bombs and bullets and repressive governments. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I spent the first years working in Jordan trying to learn as much as I could about what was taking place in the country, about where there were gaps in the development process that needed attention. Inevitably, there were certain common denominators which are fairly common to all developing societies, perhaps to all societies: that quality education be accessible to everyone, not just a limited elite few; the sustainable conservation of natural resources; the full engagement of women in national development; and the value of cross-cultural exchange and understanding to international relations. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

The Koran says the killing of an innocent, the taking of an innocent life, is tantamount to killing all of mankind. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

The Noor Al-Hussein Foundation (Light of Al-Hussein) was created to complement my husband's efforts to advance development in the country. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

What keeps me awake at night is just, Am I making the best use of the time that remains for me, to both be as good an example as I can in my own daily life, and as compelling as possible a voice for the ways in which we can all work together to tackle these issues. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

War over water would be an ultimate obscenity. And yet, unfortunately it is conceivable ... Water has been a source over so many years of erosion of confidence, of tension, of human rights abuses, really, of so many in areas whose traditional water supplies have been controlled and depleted by occupational authorities. That must stop if we're going to be able to develop a climate for peace. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

You can see that in people around the world who struggle to survive with little or nothing. Whether they've been inspired by faith or by loving relationships, or whether it's just something innate that gives them that ability to shine and inspire others. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

In some extreme cases, women are constrained by what can only be described as pre-Islamic, misogynistic approaches to the role of women in society. That continues to be a challenge. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I work out on almost a daily basis wherever I am, but yoga brings into that equation something that is ideal for me to maintain a physical and emotional and mental kind of balance, and to stay healthy - I see it as a way of investing in my future. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I think there are always going to be fanatics and charismatic extremists who are going to be able to draw a following. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

Of course, in our country, developing in a region with somewhat conservative traditions, women were desperately needed to be more engaged - socially, economically, politically. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

The killing of innocent people is a sin. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

King Hussein never lost his faith, no matter how difficult and unbearable and cruel the circumstances could be. I always remember that. It helps me get through everything. It's a way of trying to keep that positive spirit alive for as many people as we can touch. I think that's good for the world. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

A more just world is possible. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

The idea of public service was instilled in me by watching my father, who shared that he was far more fulfilled in his public service than by his former lucrative corporate jobs. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I had never imagined myself, nor aspired to be, a member of a royal family. I wanted to be in the Peace Corps, not a princess! — Queen Noor Of Jordan

Even into the 20th century, women were still struggling in the Western world for rights that Islam had granted women in the 7th century: equal rights to education; the right to own and inherit property; to have a voice in the decisions affecting their lives; to be active, engaged, and valued members of society at all levels. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

When my father began to work with President John. F.Kennedy, we moved to Washington, D.C. I was fortunate in my pre-adolescent years, as my social and political consciousness was developing, to live at the epicentre of that dynamic, idealistic, and inspiring moment in U.S. political history, with its ethos of personal and civic responsibility, summed up so succinctly in his exhortation: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country." — Queen Noor Of Jordan

In the poorest countries ... it is women who are the key to breaking out of poverty ... and preparing another generation for ... leading their countries into real security. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

There were initiatives I have remained involved with in the U.S. and in the Middle East, like the Peace Corps, which might be summed up as, "Ask not that the world serve you, but ask what you can do to serve the world." — Queen Noor Of Jordan

The sheer folly of trying to defend a nation by destroying all life on the planet must be apparent to anyone capable of rational thought. Nuclear capability must be reduced to zero, globally, permanently. There is no other option. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I think there are many experts who say, in fact, the most powerful nations on earth are more vulnerable today than the weaker nations because they're the targets of so many of these groups that are trying to steal, to buy, to build nuclear weapons. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I founded the King Hussein Foundation after my husband's death in 1999, to build on his humanitarian vision and legacy in the country and abroad, through programs promoting education and leadership, economic empowerment, tolerance, cross-cultural dialogue, and media that enhances mutual understanding and respect among different cultures across conflict lines. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

If we are to prosper together in our increasingly small world, we must listen to
and learn from each other's stories — Queen Noor Of Jordan

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s peaceful, determined struggle for social justice, and Sargent Shriver, who launched the Peace Corps, were early heroes. A career of public service was the ultimate aspiration. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I have witnessed firsthand the anguish of this humanitarian tragedy - in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and other conflict and post-conflict zones. The destruction of lives and hopes, the emotional trauma, and the economic, social, and political marginalization of the displaced, the human insecurity, with real and potentially devastating consequences over generations, in ever-widening arenas of conflict. We can and must ensure the human rights of the displaced. That begins by making their voices heard. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

We develop our beautiful planet in such a way that we brush aside the species ... we risk creating a wasteland, where our aspirations will ultimately wither and die — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I will tell a thrilling tale of intrigue," said Queen Noor. "So thrilling that you might think yourself to be in the presence of a fine, traveling storyteller. — Karen Gammons

We came together [with King Hussein of Jordan] because of a shared sense of idealism, of the value of service to a community far greater than ourselves, and the conviction that each and everyone of us can meaningfully contribute to solving even the most seemingly intractable problems. — Queen Noor Of Jordan

I don't think we've ever lived in such a dangerous time, on a range of different levels. We also live in an extremely exciting time with a multitude of opportunities for each and every one of us to engage our individual voices, to engage more effectively collectively, to tackle some of these issues that would have seemed beyond our reach just a few years ago. — Queen Noor Of Jordan