Leymah Gbowee Quotes

We must continue to unite in sisterhood to turn our tears into triumph.

There is no time to rest until our world achieves wholeness and balance, where all men and women are considered equal and free.

The world is upside down, it's going to take a lot of hands to turn it right side up.

Leadership is standing with your people.

People say you have to live to fight another day, but sometimes you have to show you are a true leader.

Activism is something that no one can fake.

You get angry. You cry. But you never throw in your towel, because that anger is what is propelling you to further action.

It's insulting when outsiders come in and tell a traumatized people what it will take for them to heal... People who have lived through a terrible conflict may be hungry and desperate, but they are not stupid. They often have very good ideas about how peace can evolve, and they need to be asked. That includes women. Most especially women.

I don't feel like I've done anything extraordinary but take my little light and shine it in darkness.

You can tell people of the need to struggle, but when the powerless start to see that they really can make a difference, nothing can quench the fire.

It’s time for women to stop being politely angry.

You cannot say you've achieved equality until EVERYONE is equal and has equal opportunities!

The one thing I have never been afraid of is standing before important people and speaking my mind. I represent women who may never have the opportunity to go to the UN or meet with a president. I'm never afraid to speak truth to power.

My courage comes from my faith. I have come to one conclusion: All that I am, all that I aspire to be, all that I was before, is by the grace of God. There are so many women in Africa, and outside Africa, who are more intelligent than I am.

When the guilty verdict was handed down, I walked outside and saw a rainbow encircling the sun. Everyone in Monrovia could see it. It was a hot day, 80 or 90 degrees. I don't remember seeing any raindrops fall. I thought, this is a sign.

We go into rural communities and all we do, like has been done in this room, is create the space. When these girls sit, you unlock intelligence, you unlock passion, you unlock commitment, you unlock focus, you unlock great leaders.

If you read the life of great men and women who made important changes in history, there are two common features: One, they were angry at the state of affairs and, two, they were people of faith.

It is so difficult to do any work nonviolently if you don't have the constant awareness of someone who is greater than you are - someone greater who will not just fight for you but who is there to console you.

If any changes were to be made in society it had to be by the mothers.

Don't stop, echoes the older Liberian lady's voice.

Don't ever stop. My answer to her: I never will.

When women gather, great things will happen.

At 17, the first time I saw a dead body, I froze.

By 31 it was a natural occurrence for me, and no group of people should live like that.

Religion by itself was not meant to be a divisive tool.

All of our religious teachings have similar rules, such as a commitment to peace and nonviolence, and care for women and widows and orphans. What has destroyed a coming together is men's interpretation of religion.

Men are the ones who often juggle back and forth for power. It is the women who bring humanity to the table - an understanding that beyond the jobs that men are fighting for, there are people out there really waiting for you to do something for life to go on. The only way all of this can happen effectively is if women are at the table as active participants, not as silent observers.

I always tell people, anger is like liquid. It's fluid, it's like water. You put it in a container and it takes the shape of that container. So many people you see in prison, unleashing war on their people, they are angry, and they take their anger and put it into a violent container.

Women are the ones that bear the greatest burden. We are also the ones who nurture societies.

Sometimes, people call my way of speaking ranting. Why are you always ranting and screaming, they ask. But here’s the thing…the reason why I rant is because I am a voice for many women that cannot speak out to heads of state, UN officials, and those that influence systems of oppression. And so I rant. And I will not stop ranting until my mission of equality of all girls is achieved.

Today, this young woman is me, a Nobel laureate. I'm now on a journey to fulfill the wish, in my tiny capacity, of little African girls - the wish of being educated. We set up a foundation. We're giving full four-year scholarships to girls from villages that we see with potential.

There is something in this world that every individual can do. God has created all of us with something unique to contribute.

We go into rural communities, and all we do - like has been done in this room [at TED] - is create the space. When these girls sit ... you unlock great leaders.

We have lived through fear all our lives, and when you have gone through a whole lot of fear, sometimes all you can do is resist the fear, and resistance comes in the form of courage.

If you are serving justice to one person, those who have been affected should also be served some form of justice.

I'm now on a journey to fulfill the wish, in my tiny capacity, of little African girls.

'I wish for a better life. I wish for food for my children. I wish that sexual abuse and exploitation in schools would stop.' This is the dream of the African girl.

The world is waiting to hear from you.

I'm a serious optimist. I come from a country where you have little to be hopeful for, and so you have to always be an optimist.

Regardless of whom you pray to, during war our experiences as a community and as mothers are the same.