Quotes by Bella Abzug

“The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes.”

“Maybe we weren't at the Last Supper, but we're certainly going to be at the next one.”

“We are coming down from our pedestal and up from the laundry room.”

“Imperfect though it may be, the Beijing Platform for Action is the strongest statement of consensus on women's equality, empowerment and justice ever produced by governments.”

“I've spent a lifetime in challenge. There's no way in which you can create any meaningful change unless you do that.”

“When I was a young lawyer, working women wore hats. It was the only way they would take you seriously.”

“When I went to represent my law firm anywhere—I was a young kid just out of college—I said, How do you do? I'm Bella Abzug from the law firm of such and such, and people would say, Yes, fine, fine,...”

“Just imagine for a moment what life in this country might have been if women had been properly represented in Congress. Would a Congress where women in all their diversity were represented tolerate...”

“When it comes to child care, the United States is at a primitive stage compared to countries like Israel, Denmark, Sweden and Russia. (p 39)”

“All I say is that anybody who thinks he can take me lightly because I'm fresh and colorful had better watch out. (p 49)”

“Ever since my youth I've been a Zionist, and I worked hard for the cause of a Jewish homeland too. I've visited Israel and I raised my kids with a very strong background in Jewish culture. Besides ...”

“The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be in the arrangement of your chromosomes. (p. 80)”

“Then up gets Carl Albert to tell us he supports Bolling's resolution because he wants to see us work together with the Republicans to end the war. I was appalled! Here was the Speaker of the House-...”

“Without getting scientific or psychological or historical about it, it's long been my judgment that women have been at the forefront of social change. When we first got the vote, we used it to clea...”

“This moment in history requires women to lead the movement for radical change (p 203)”

“I've been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prizefighter, a man-hater, you name it. They call me Battling Bella, Mother Courage and a Jewish mother with more complaints than Portnoy. There ar...”

“Perhaps the best way to change Congress to make it more representative, to make it more responsive-is to show people exactly what it is. This is the reason I've decided to keep this diary. I want p...”

“I felt if we are going to get anywhere, Congress has got to begin to reflect in its composition the great diversity of this country.”

“I am an activist. I'm the kind of person who does things at the same time that I'm working to create a feeling that something can be done. And I don't intend to disappear in Congress as many of my ...”

“These are very special times we live in. The priorities in this country-against the will of the people-are upside down. At this moment, as the 92nd Congress is about to convene, the mood of the cou...”