I think there’s a mythology that if you want to change the world, you have to be sainted, like Mother Teresa or Nelson Mandela or Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Ordinary people with lives that go up and down and around in circles can still contribute to change.
Interpretation
Everyone can bring about change, regardless of their status or background.
Jody Williams emphasizes that the idea of needing to be extraordinary or saintly to make a difference in the world is a myth. Instead, it is the ordinary, everyday actions of people, with all their complexities and ups and downs, that can lead to meaningful change, suggesting that contributions to societal progress can come from anyone.
In practice
During a speech at a community event, to inspire local activists to take action.
Landmines distinguish themselves because once they have been sown, once the soldier walks away from the weapon, the landmine cannot tell the difference between a soldier or a civilian - a woman, a child, a grandmother going out to collect firewood to make the family meal.
I believe that worrying about the problems plaguing our planet without taking steps to confront them is absolutely irrelevant. The only thing that changes this world is taking action.
Guns go home with the soldiers, but landmines are designed to kill - mindlessly, out of control, for years.
What I consider to be peace [is] a sustainable peace in which the majority of people on this planet have access to enough resources to live dignified lives.
The insistence on complete certainty about the full details of global warming-the most serious threat we have ever faced-is actually an effort to avoid facing the awful, uncomfortable truth: that we must act boldly, decisively, comprehensively, and quickly, even before we know every last detail about the crisis. Those who continue to argue that the appropriate response is merely additional research are simply seeking to camouflage timidity or protect their vested interest in the status quo.
The repossession by women of our bodies will bring far more essential change to human society than the seizing of the means of production by workers.
My own life in India, since I came to it in 1893 to make it my home, has been devoted to one purpose, to give back to India her ancient freedom.
What I possess I would gladly retain. Change amuses the mind, yet scarcely profits.
But say some, would you expose woman to the contact of rough, rude, drinking, swearing, fighting men at the ballot box? What a humiliating confession lies in this plea for keeping woman in the background!
People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.
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