List of Wangari Maathai Quotes

I Think That For Anybody Who Has Worked In The Civil Society, Government Bureaucracy Moves Very Very Slowly.

As Long As We Have All These Conflicts, It Is The Women Who Will Continue To Suffer, So That Is One Reason Why I Guess As Women We Should Really Work For Peace, Because We Know How Painful Wars Can Be To Us And Our Daughters.

Sometimes I Feel Frustration At The Bureaucracy For Not Moving Fast Enough To Deliver In The Way That I Would Prefer. But That Is Probably Because I Have Worked For Many Years In The Civil Society, Which Tends To Move Much Faster Than Government.

When I First Started, It Was Really An Innocent Response To The Needs Of Women In Rural Areas. When We Started Planting Trees To Meet Their Needs, There Was Nothing Beyond That. I Did Not See All The Issues That I Have To Come To Deal With.

All Through The Ages The African People Have Made Efforts To Deliver Themselves From Oppressive Forces.

Why Has There Been So Much Secrecy About Aids? When You Ask Where Did The Virus Come From, It Raises A Lot Of Flags. That Makes Me Suspicious.

As Long As There Is No Trust And Confidence That There Will Be Justice And Fairness In Resource Distribution, Political Positioning Will Remain More Important Than Service

You Cannot Blame The Mismanagement Of The Economy Or The Fact That We Have Not Invested Adequately In Education In Order To Give Our People The Knowledge, The Skills And The Technology That They Need In Order To Be Able To Use The Resources That Africa Has To Gain Wealth

After Hurricane Katrina, Many People Said That The Levees Were Not As Effective As The Natural Vegetation That Had Been Removed At The Coast. So That Means As We Develop These Seaside Land Masses, We Need To Have Enough Knowledge To Not Regret In The Future. We Know That The Us Government Is Literally Buying These Lands Back To Allow Them To Be Rehabilitated.

Now When Nile Perch Was Introduced [into Lake Victoria], I Don't Think Enough Research Was Done; Maybe It Was Done, Maybe It Was Not. But Nile Perch Is A Huge Fish. So It Ate All The Little Fish, And It Grew Into A Monster Which The Local People Could Not Fish With Their Little Boats And Their Little Nets.

There Are Certain Areas Where Foreign Investors Can Help The Local People To Generate Wealth, And Improve Their Quality Of Life. Some Companies, For Example, Del Monte, Which Produces Pineapples In Kenya, Pay A Huge Amount Of Taxes, I Am Sure, To The Kenyan Government, And They Do Create Jobs For Thousands Of Locals.

I Have Seen A Lot Of Men, For Example, Who Will Make A Will And Include Their Daughters Whether They Are Married Or Not. And Perhaps The Greatest Change Of Attitude Is That Today, At Least In Kenya, If You Don't Send Your Child To School - Unless It's A Matter Of Poverty Or Religion, And It Is Not That There No Schools - Then People Wonder, "why The Hell Don't You Send Your Children To School?" Now That's A Very Big Jump From When I Was Going To School And Educating Girls Was An Exception To The Rule.