Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Quotes

I work hard, I work late, I have nothing on my conscience. When I go to bed, I sleep.

As more men become more educated and women get educated, the value system has to be more enhanced and the respect for human dignity and human life is made better.

Liberia can move on and break from the past. That is very important for us to try to achieve our development goals and reconcile our nation.

Ebola is not just a health crisis. Across West Africa, a generation of young people risks being lost to an economic catastrophe.

One has to look at my life story to see what I've done. I've paid a heavy price that many people don't realize.

There is no easy fix or youth unemployment. Partnership between the public and private sectors can make a big difference.

The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.

We are here because we share a fundamental belief: that poverty, illiteracy, disease and inequality do not belong in the twenty-first century. We share a common purpose: to eradicate these ills for the benefit of all. And we share a common tool to achieve this: the Millennium Development Goals.

Leadership is never given on a silver platter, one has to earn it.

In Liberia, the big challenge that remains for us is job creation. We want young people to work or go to school. That is our main preoccupation right now.

Women work harder. And women are more honest; they have less reasons to be corrupt.

I think the majority of the Liberian people want peace.

In Liberia, our main obstacle is infrastructure: the lights, the water, the roads. Companies can't operate without those things. And even though we have commitments from our partners, it takes time to turn commitments into cash.

I beg you I no magician. I can't just wave a magic wand.

I just think that unless you have that cohesiveness in the family unit, the male character tends to become very dominant, repressive and insensitive. So much of this comes also from a lack of education.

The people of Liberia know what it means to be deprived of clean water. But we also know what it means to see our children begin to smile again, with a restoration of hope and faith in the future.

Our entire judicial system in Liberia has broken down because of the many years of lawlessness, indiscipline and warfare. We need more training to get more qualified judges. We need infrastructural reforms. All of our laws need to be re-examined by a law reform commission.

Liberia has to take primary responsibility for its own reform agenda. But our resources are limited. We have to attract the private sector to get jobs to our people that will enable us to raise the government revenue, but to do that we have to build infrastructure. It's a very complex problem of development we are facing here.

I don't run a woman government. I run a government of people.

I earned my professional credibility a long time ago in a male-dominated world. I just hope that as a woman, I bring in an extra dimension to the job. I bring in the sensitivity of being a woman and a mother, and that means I pay more attention to women, children, and the social needs of society.

I've been a victor of circumstance.

In Liberia, our salary scales are so low that our judicial system has become corrupt over the years. Now, we need to do some things ourselves.

I don't face any particular problems as a woman president because I have been a professional for a long time. I keep telling people: I am a technocrat who happens to be a woman.

Of course, I am the first democratically elected woman president in Africa, and that raises a lot of expectations. Because I represent the aspirations of women all over Africa, I must succeed for them. I must keep the door open for women's participation in politics at the highest level. That is both humbling and exciting.

Ethnicity should enrich us; it should make us a unique people in our diversity and not be used to divide us.

I believe that there are certain attributes in a woman that give her some advantages over a man. Women are usually more honest, more sensitive to issues and bring a stronger sense of commitment and dedication to what they do. Maybe because they were mothers, and being a mother you have that special attention for the family, for the young, for children…

If your dreams don't scare you, you aren't dreaming big enough.

If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.

We all have a stake in the battle against Ebola.