Quotes by Shirin Ebadi

Democracy doesn't recognize east or west; 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
How can you defy fear? 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 this fear.
– Shirin Ebadi
Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization.
– Shirin Ebadi
I have never been convinced throughout my life that one needs to be imitating others.
– Shirin Ebadi
I maintain that nothing useful and lasting can emerge from violence.
– Shirin Ebadi
My aim is to show that those governments that violate the rights of people by invoking the name of Islam have been misusing Islam.
– Shirin Ebadi
Terrorism is based on two major pillars: One is injustice, and the other is a certainty of attitude, the notion that their version of the story is the correct one. This way of thinking - this self-certainty - is based on not being educated.
– Shirin Ebadi
The condition of women in Islamic societies as a whole is also far from desirable. However, we should acknowledge that there are differences. In certain countries, the conditions are much better and in others much worse.
– Shirin Ebadi
The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights.
– Shirin Ebadi
We must not enable anyone to impose his personal view regarding religion on others by force, oppression, or pressure.
– Shirin Ebadi
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
When a person is humiliated, when his rights are being violated, and he does not have the proper education, naturally he gravitates toward terrorism.
– Shirin Ebadi
When we criticize in Iran the actions of the government, the fundamentalists say that we and the Bush Administration are in the same camp. The funny thing is that human rights activists and Mr. Bush can never be situated in the same group.
– Shirin Ebadi
Whenever 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.
– Shirin Ebadi
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.
– Shirin Ebadi