Quotes from Zainab Salbi

While women may look different, as some wear suits and others wear saris, or some cover their hair while others wear their hair loose, women need to stand together because they all face the central point of discrimination, although the extremity of which may be different from Kigali to Kabul.

One year of the world's military spending equals 700 years of the U.N. budget and equals 2,928 years of the U.N. budget allocated for women.

Leadership is not about having the charisma or speaking inspirational words, but about leading with example.

Since I was 15 years old I have dedicated my life to serving women.

Like life, peace begins with women. We are the first to forge lines of alliance and collaboration across conflict divides.

There's a lot of projection that if you're in service then you shouldn't look good. I'm no different from anybody else. I like clothes, I like shoes, I like to go have nice dinners, I like to dance. Just because I've dedicated myself to serving women, why do you think I need to sacrifice myself?

Everything can be taken from you in a second, but the human spirit is so strong. War can teach you so much about evil, and so much about good.

Sometimes you just have to jump off the cliff without knowing where you will land.

Since war often enters homes through the "kitchen door," we need to understand women's attempts to keep life going in the face of shortage of food, closing of schools and reduced freedoms.

Passionately enjoy life!

In my 20s I was such a serious, boring-looking person. I would never do my nails. I never even danced. But I was taught by the women. They had gone through hell, but they would dance and sing. I came to realise I can't argue for a happy world if I am not happy myself.

In every single culture I encountered, there were always women who defied cultural norms to do what they believed was right for them. This phenomenon has never been related to how rich, poor, successful or not successful the woman may be.

Do you know that people fall in love in war and go to school and go to factories and hospitals and get divorced and go dancing and go playing and live life?

Every woman must own her story; otherwise we are all part of the silence.

Leadership is about encouraging women to break their silence and tell their stories to the world.

I grew up with injustice and could do nothing about it. But once in America, I had freedom of choice.

I couldn't find anyone doing something about the astounding injustices women were experiencing, so I decided to do something myself. I cannot tell you how many people ridiculed my efforts.

Being a leader for me is about having the courage to speak the truth, and live the truth, despite attempts to silence our thoughts, feelings, and past experiences.

As women, we must speak out, speak up, say no to our inheritance of loss and yes to a future of women-led dialogue about women's rights and value.

I don't want to be someone in my sixties holding on to a group that I created when I was in my twenties.

There is never a typical week. I don't think I can live with a typical week.

Living in war is a co- existence with death.

War is nothing but a microcosm of peace... it shows you life in a more intense way and that's how I continue to live it... for good or bad reasons.

The front[line] of wars is increasingly non-human eyes peering down on our perceived enemies from space, guiding missiles toward unseen targets.