If we took away barriers to women's leadership, we would solve the climate change problem a lot faster
In a society where the rights and potential of women are constrained, no man can be truly free. He may have power, but he will not have freedom.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that true freedom for all is interconnected; if women are oppressed, men cannot be genuinely free either.
Mary Robinson's quote highlights the interdependence of freedom and rights within society. It suggests that when the rights and potential of women are restricted or constrained, it impacts everyone, including men. Even if men hold positions of power, they cannot attain true freedom as long as half of society—women—are denied their basic rights and opportunities. The quote serves as a call to recognize that the liberation of all individuals is essential for a genuinely free society.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for women's rights, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of gender equality for societal freedom.
More from Mary Robinson
All quotes →Similar quotes
It is a curious thing: man, the centre and creator of all science, is the only object which our science has not yet succeeded in including in a homogeneous representation of the universe. We know the history of his bones, but no ordered place has yet been found in nature for his reflective intelligence.
The impact of all these restrictions is on poor women, because women who have means, if their state doesn't provide access, another state does. ... It makes no sense as a national policy to promote birth only among poor people.
Worshiping someone means...placing that person outside of our world. We are not worshiping anyone or anything, we are simply communing with Creation.
The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give.
Who said that time heals all wounds? It would be better to say that time heals everything - except wounds. With time, the hurt of separation loses its real limits. With time, the desired body will soon disappear, and if the desiring body has already ceased to exist for the other, then what remains is a wound, disembodied.
All wars signify the failure of conflict resolution mechanisms, and they need post-war rebuilding of faith, trust and confidence.