Latest Shirin Ebadi Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• Israel is a country and should exist. And a country by the name of Palestine should be made. Two different governments of Palestine and Israel can live beside each other happily and both of them should recognize each other.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Country, Different, Palestine

• Iran, the Iranian government, has mentioned several times that it wouldn't attack Israel.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Iranian

• Maybe the words are the same, but the time is not the same. Iranians weren't working on achieving nuclear energy.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Energy, Achieve

• The diplomatic relations start when the two sides get a bit closer to each other, but U.S and Iran, they are drifting apart.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Relation, Drifting, Diplomatic

  Interview With Reese Erlich, www.motherjones.com. April 7, 2007.

• America is not the only one who should decide about the policies toward Iran.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Policy

• Americans shouldn't start a military attack, and they shouldn't bombard Iran, and they shouldn't interfere with the internal affairs of the country. And the Americans should pay more attention to the human right issues in Iran.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Country, Military, Attention

• The history and our experience shows that Democrats and Republicans think the same way in some cases, and their ideas aren't very different when it comes to international relations.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Thinking, Different, Republican

• If you study the behavior or the attitude of Syria, Iran, and U.S., you understand that these three countries can't come to terms with each other.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Country, Attitude, Study

• Akbar Ganji was in prison for six years, and that was it...for six years, and it was finished. Of course the Iranian government could make up some stories and accuse him of some other things, but the international support didn't let the government do that.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Support, Prison, Iranian

• Akbar Ganji is a human rights activist in Iran and he works on freedom of expression and he does his job very well.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Human Rights, Freedom Of Expression, Activist

• Iran is a rich country, and if the people of this country are poor, it's because of the wrong policies of the government.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Country, People, Rich

• Unfortunately the situation of human rights in Iran isn't improving. Some of the newspapers were shut down and the government didn't try to reopen the newspapers that were shut down before. And the laws are as bad as before.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Trying, Human Rights, Situation

• Fear is a human instinct, just like hunger. Whether you like it or not, you become hungry. Similarly with fear. But I have learned to train myself to live with the fear.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Hunger, Hungry, You Like It

  Source: progressive.org

• The fight against terrorism is a legitimate fight. And certainly whoever commits terrorism should be brought to justice. Unfortunately, the United States and a few other governments have used the war on terrorism as a way of violating human rights.

  Shirin Ebadi

  War, Fighting, Justice

  Source: progressive.org

• The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights. Human rights is the fruit of various civilizations. I know of no civilization that tolerates or justifies violence, terrorism, or injustice. There is no civilization that justifies the killing of innocent people. Those who are invoking cultural relativism are really using that as an excuse for violating human rights and to put a cultural mask on the face of what they're doing.

  Shirin Ebadi

  People, Violence, Human Rights

  Source: progressive.org

• Democracy doesn't recognize east or west and democracy is simply people's will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge that there are various models of democracy; there is just democracy itself.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Democracy, Acknowledge, Various

  Source: progressive.org

• It's perfectly OK that there are certain people who do not accept Islam at all. Therefore, to announce that I am a Muslim can rub some people the wrong way. But my aim is to show that those governments that violate the rights of people by invoking the name of Islam have been misusing Islam. They violate these rights and then seek refuge behind the argument that Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy. But this is basically to save face. In fact, I'm promoting democracy. And I'm saying that Islam is not an excuse for thwarting democracy.

  Shirin Ebadi

  People, Islam, Democracy

  Source: progressive.org

• I have never been convinced throughout my life that one needs to be imitating others. I even tell my daughters not to look at me as a model. Everyone's condition is different, and the way that each person lives his or her life is different. What is important is that one utilizes one's intellect and not to be 100 percent sure about one's convictions. One should always leave room for doubt.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Daughter, Doubt, Important

  Source: progressive.org

• The condition of women in Islamic societies as a whole is far from desirable. However, we should acknowledge that there are differences. In certain countries, the conditions are much better and in others much worse. For example, the conditions women face even in Egypt differ a whole lot from what their Iranian counterparts deal with. The condition of women in Pakistan is far different from that in Saudi Arabia. This shows that you can have different interpretations of Islam.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Country, Islamic, Different

  Source: progressive.org

• There is no "true Islam," just different interpretations. Since I brought up patriarchy, let me make one thing clear. I am not singling out men; I am addressing the issue of inequality of genders. A patriarchy does not only not accept the equality of the sexes, it also has a hard time understanding the principles of democracy and its essence. Women are the victims of this patriarchal culture, but they are also its carriers. Let us keep in mind that every oppressive man was raised in the confines of his mother's home. This is the culture we need to resist and fight.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Home, Fighting, Men

  Source: progressive.org

• Whenever Muslim women protest and ask for their rights, they are silenced with the argument that the laws are justified under Islam. It is an unfounded argument. It is not Islam at fault, but rather the patriarchal culture that uses its own interpretations to justify whatever it wants. It utilizes psychology to say that women are emotional. It utilizes medical science to say that men's brains are formed in such a way that they are better able to understand concepts. These are all hypotheses. None of this has been proven.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Emotional, Psychology, Brain

  Source: progressive.org

• A Muslim man can have up to four wives. He can divorce his wife without offering any reason, while it is quite difficult for a woman to get a divorce. The testimony of two women is equal to that of one man. Any woman who wishes to travel needs the written permission of her husband. And the number of unemployed women is four times that of men.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Husband, Divorce, Men

  Source: progressive.org

• When there is enough oxygen in the air for everyone, no one is going to take to violence in order to access it. But if there were not enough of it for everyone then people would result to violence in order to get it. Therefore we have to improve the conditions to have better human beings.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Air, Oxygen, Order

  "Iran’s Nobel Peace Laureate Speaks From Exile". Interview with Bryan Schatz, www.motherjones.com. February 29, 2016.

• People are fundamentally good. But conditions deteriorate them.

  Shirin Ebadi

  People, Conditions

  "Iran’s Nobel Peace Laureate Speaks From Exile". Interview with Bryan Schatz, www.motherjones.com. February 29, 2016.

• While living in exile I have become the loudspeaker for the people of Iran.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Iran, People, Exile

  "Iran’s Nobel Peace Laureate Speaks From Exile". Interview with Bryan Schatz, www.motherjones.com. February 29, 2016.