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 Kiev, Ukraine, Meir was educated in the United States. She moved to Palestine in her twenties after the 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 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.
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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: Strength, Age, Aging
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: Opportunities, Reality
Don’t be so humble, you’re not that great.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Humility
Whether women are better than men I cannot say – but I can say they are certainly no worse.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Men, Men & Women, Women, Feminism
I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.
—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: Power, Leaders, Leadership, Battle
One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.
—Golda Meir
Topics: Past and Present, Lessons from the past
To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don’t be.
—Golda Meir
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
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