I maintain that nothing useful and lasting can emerge from violence.

I have never been convinced throughout my life that one needs to be imitating others. I even tell my daughters not to look at me as a model.

When more and more people want something, it becomes easier to achieve that goal.

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.

People are fundamentally good. But conditions deteriorate them.

Unfortunately, the United States and a few other governments have used the war on terrorism as a way of violating human rights. I am referring to the case of the Guantánamo Bay prisoners. This violation of the rights of prisoners has been so unbelievable that the United Nations has reminded the United States repeatedly that the treatment of prisoners should take place according to the preestablished conventions of the United Nations.

Democracy is not an incident that happens overnight, nor a gift that America can give to the world. It is a culture which needs peace to evolve.