Let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil!
We don't thrive on military acts. We do them because we have to, and thank God we are efficient.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the necessity of military action as a means of survival rather than a pursuit of excellence.
Golda Meir expresses the idea that military actions are undertaken out of necessity rather than a desire for glory or to prove strength. She acknowledges that these actions, while often viewed negatively, are executed with efficiency when absolutely required for the defense and survival of a nation. This speaks to the complex nature of conflict where the intent is not to thrive but to ensure existence and safety.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing military personnel, this quote could emphasize the importance of their actions while acknowledging the need for peace.
More from Golda Meir
All quotes βIt isn't really important to decide when you are very young just exactly what you want to become when you grow up. It is much more important to decide on the way you want to live. If you are going to be honest with yourself and honest with your friends, if you are going to get involved in causes which are good for others, not only for yourselves, then it seems to me that that is sufficient, and maybe what you will be is only a matter of chance.
It is true we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them. We don't want victories anymore.
It's no accident many accuse me of conducting public affairs with my heart instead of my head. Well, what if I do?.. Those who don't know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either.
Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.
Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you're aboard, there's nothing you can do.
Similar quotes
I was a different kind of player as a kid and didn't do too much shouting and screaming. If things didn't go my way, I tended to get a bit overwhelmed. All I wanted to do was cry on my mom's shoulder. I didn't know how to handle defeat in front of a crowd, and I didn't want to be the loser.
'Blacks were too scared to do anything, but they came out to greet James Meredith': That would have been the story in the evening news if I hadn't gotten myself shot. I got shot, and that allowed the movement protest thing to take over then and do their thing.
I expected to die. At no time before the trial did I expect to escape with my life. Yet being executed in the gas chamber did not necessarily mean defeat. It could be one more step to bring the community to a higher level of consciousness.
If you were a pure bolt of fire-cutting the skies I'd touch you-risking my life-not because I'm brave or strong, but because I'm fascinated by what the outcome would be.
... resistance to tyranny is man's highest ideal.
Fear and God do not occupy the same space.