“Only she who attempts the absurd can achieve the impossible” is a feminist proverb of indeterminate origin that perhaps may have been quietly adopted by women achievers.
Barely less than a hundred years ago, women were classified as imbeciles, irrational, incapable of managing their own affairs, denied education, employment and professions and excluded from juries and public offices. Defying the odds of times and circumstances, these women in my list absolutely contributed to the development of a rational being.
These are the women at whose side I want to stand.
Mary Magdalene
She, “the woman with many names . . . Sophia, Magdala, Marinha…”
She “with a reputation as a tearful penitent….”
“A Woman Who Showed Her Gratitude….
“A woman of substance, brave and smart and devoted, who plays a crucial — perhaps irreplaceable — role in Christianity’s defining moment.”
“The first to see the risen Lord — those with more power have sought to marginalize her. Yet she is faithful. She remains. She cannot be silenced.”
I adore this woman… I love this woman …
Benazir Bhutto – The First Muslim woman to lead a Muslim Nation…
“I do what I have to do and am determined to fulfill my pledge to the people of Pakistan to stand by them in their democratic aspirations. I take the risk for all the children of Pakistan. The children of Pakistan are as dear to me as my own children” were her famous last words.
Benazir, meaning “without parallel” during her term as Prime Minister of Pakistan expressed the hope that one day Moslems would soon be able to pray at the holy site in the Israeli controlled Jerusalem.
Norma Jean Baker
“I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else. ”
Overhauled for her almost perfect portrait of the ‘goddess’ Marilyn Monroe. Abandoned, deprived, single handedly reached the epitome of fame, allured and glorified in life yet scorned, “murdered” and cheaply wrapped in death.
Indira Gandhi
‘Even if I die in the service of the nation, I will be proud of it. Every drop of my blood, I am sure, I will contribute to the growth of this nation and will make it strong and dynamic” Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said in a speech in the East Indian State of Orissa a day before she was killed by her own security guards in October 1984. The only child of Prime Minister Jewaharlal Nehru, she was dubbed as the “Mother of India” or “Indira means India. The first Indian woman Prime Minister, she spent her childhood in an atmosphere of intense political activity with her parents. She was barely three years old when Mahatma Gandhi launched his first civil disobedience movement.
Dian Fosey
“The Kabara groups taught me much regarding gorilla behavior. From them I learned to accept the animals on their own terms and never to push them beyond the varying levels of tolerance they were willing to give. Any observer is an intruder in the domain of a wild animal and must remember that the rights of that animal supersede human interests. When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate on the preservation of the future.”
One of the world’s leading female scientists, Dr. Dian Fossey had a remarkable career, highlighted by many challenges and successes. Her life was cut short when she was murdered in 1985, yet legacy has continued and grown in multiple ways. Most importantly, the work she devoted her life to – protecting and studying the mountain gorillas of Africa – has proved highly effective and has resulted in the stabilization and growth of this most endangered of the great apes, and in many other related conservation efforts, as well as programs for people who live in areas near the gorillas.
Margareth Thatcher
“Change cannot be painless. But much of what we are going through today is the result of past folly and neglect. After any major operation, you feel worse before convalesce. But you don’t refuse the operation when you know that without it, you won’t survive.”
Golda Meir
“Like my generation, this generation will strive to struggle, make mistakes and achieve. Like us, they are totally committed to the development and security of the State of Israel and to the dream of a just society here. Like us, they know that there be a Jewish people to remain a people, it is essential that there be a Jewish nation where Jews can live as Jews, not on suffering and not as minority. I am grateful that I live in a country whose people have learned how to go on living in a sea of hatred without hating those who want to destroy them and without abandoning their own vision of peace. To have learned this is a great art, the prescription for which is not written down anywhere. It is a part of our way of life in Israel”
References:
Sisterhood is Global
Great Women of Our Time
Woman of Destiny
Gorillas in the Mist
The Woman Who Showed Gratitude
