Best 27 quotes of Waris Dirie on MyQuotes

Waris Dirie

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    Waris Dirie

    Because women and girls are not valued equally as human beings, they are treated as less than such. Female genital mutilation is one example of this that has to be stopped.

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    Waris Dirie

    Don’t do to your daughters what has been done to you! They are perfect and beautiful.

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    Waris Dirie

    Every day, women move mountains. It is an insult to have an international women's day.

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    Waris Dirie

    Fashion is fun, ridiculously fun. But it's base and it's wrong. You're not doing anything good for the world. You're just saying, 'Buy it, buy it, buy it.

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    Waris Dirie

    I always knew, from the very day of my own mutilation, that I would one day fight against this practice. I did not know how and when, but I knew that I would fight it.

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    Waris Dirie

    I am strong, determined, impulsive, happy, and emotional.

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    Waris Dirie

    I don't know what a supermodel is. If they call me that, I might have to punch them. It's just so vain and so unreal.

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    Waris Dirie

    If you can survive in the desert, you survive anywhere. I know more than anything life in desert. You can tell by looking at the dirt how long ago it rained, how hard it rained, how much water came through. You can by looking at a plant, a tree, from an animal's look. I can read the desert like I read my hand.

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    Waris Dirie

    I have often felt like I was the only one fighting against female genital mutilation. There is still a huge taboo surrounding the topic, because it involves the most private parts of the female´s body. But whenever I feel like this is too much for me to do, I read e-mails and messages I receive every day from people thanking me for speaking up for them, for giving them a voice. These messages let me know that I am not alone, and that what I do is worthwhile.

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    Waris Dirie

    I know what I am fighting for. I am fighting for the most basic rights of innocent children. And that is why I never take the criticism too deep under my skin.

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    Waris Dirie

    I love life. I wish I could live another 500 years, truly. There is so much to do. I don't feel bitter or angry or disappointed. If anything, I am very grateful for where I come from. I have absolutely no regrets.

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    Waris Dirie

    I love the truth. Tell the truth and live the truth, because we've seen enough lies and look what it's doing.

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    Waris Dirie

    In the current situation, it is very difficult for foreign NGOs to work in Somalia because it is so unstable and dangerous. I really hope that my country will one day rise out of this mess and reach the potential it has.

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    Waris Dirie

    I still do find it very difficult in the West to connect to this politeness of smiling, not saying how you're thinking or not saying how you really feel.

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    Waris Dirie

    I've never been one to stay still. I was born a nomad, and I still am a nomad and always will be.

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    Waris Dirie

    Laws are important. But they can only be effective if the people know about the particular laws.

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    Waris Dirie

    Less hatred, more love, less war, more peace, more respect for the Mother Nature and for other people.

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    Waris Dirie

    Mama tied a blindfold over my eyes. The next thing I felt my flesh was being cut away. I heard the blade sawing back and forth through my skin. The pain between my legs was so intense I wished I would die.

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    Waris Dirie

    Many friends have expressed concern that a religious fanatic will try to kill me when I go to Africa. After all, I’ll be speaking out against a crime many fundamentalists consider a holy practice. I’m sure my work will be dangerous, and I admit to being scared…. But my faith tells me to be strong, that God led me down this path for a reason. He has work for me to do. This is my mission. And I believe that long before the day I was born, God chose the day I will die, so I can’t change that. In the meantime, I might as well take a chance, because that’s what I’ve done all my life.

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    Waris Dirie

    My mother named me after a miracle of nature: Waris means desert flower. The desert flower blooms in a barren environment where few living things can survive.

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    Waris Dirie

    Personal style? I don't really believe in that. Whatever is comfortable.

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    Waris Dirie

    Somalia is facing many problems, I don't even know where to start.

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    Waris Dirie

    Sometimes I wonder where I am from. I am either way ahead or I come from another world. I don't recognise this world.

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    Waris Dirie

    Well, of course there’s my own experience of being mutilated as a little child. Having gone through this cruel practice and all the long-term consequences that come with it, I just cannot sit back and watch it being done to thousands of little girls every year. I believe that it is my responsibility to use the attention I get to fight against the continuing practice of FGM.

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    Waris Dirie

    We need to empower women: provide them with work for their own income, and teach them to become independent of men so they will never have to have their children suffering the same torture.

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    Waris Dirie

    When I became successful as a model in the United States, I knew that my chance to be heard had come and so I took it.

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    Waris Dirie

    These tribal wars, like the practice of circumcision, are brought about by the ego, selfishness, and aggression of men. I hate to say that, but it’s true. Both acts stem from their obsession with their territory—their possessions—and women fall into that category both culturally and legally. Perhaps if we cut their balls off, my country would become paradise. The men would calm down and be more sensitive to the world. Without that constant surge of testosterone, there’d be no war, no killing, no thieving, no rape. And if we chopped off their private parts, and turned them loose to run around and either bleed to death or survive, maybe they could understand for the first time what they’re doing to their women.