Annie lennox quotes

Women empowering other women.They get the psycho-social support. They become part of a community.

The word feminism needs to be taken back. It needs to be reclaimed in a way that is inclusive of men.

I understand what it is for a woman to want to protect their children and give them the best they can.

One realizes after a long time that, actually, we are contradictory, all of us.

Life is not quantifiable in terms of age, but I suppose in my fifties I am more grounded and more at ease in my own skin than when I was younger. I have a confidence that I didn't have before from the experiences I've had.

HIV/AIDS has no boundaries.

I have always felt a little homeless. It's a strange thing.

If people like your music, you can't guarantee they're going to love you.

When you're that successful, things have a momentum, and at a certain point you can't really tell whether you have created the momentum or it's creating you.

You have to face things, have faith in what you do and go for it. Think, 'What's the worst that could happen?'

There was a time when I looked to other people for recognition, because I didn't have enough confidence to trust my own judgment. Now I'm not looking for reassurance, because I realize how fickle people are. My own strength is the best I can have.

To be human is to have a whole spectrum of these experiences that arise within us.

I stand on the shoulders of giants that have gone before me, in terms of affording people like myself, women, the access to democracy, the vote, medical treatment, education, everything that I've been given. It's all been earned. Therefore I feel it's incumbent on me personally to just contribute something, to add to a collective voice that needs to be here right now, to build it up to a tipping point, to make the world aware that women's rights still have to be addressed and that the word 'feminism' has been devalued and needs to be reclaimed.

If I hadn't been a singer, I might have been a photographer or an artist. But it's singing I love. I sing all the time, and I feel really good that I've expressed myself.

I think that you can only be true to yourself. Nobody can live up to other people's expectations. You will always let them down. There will always be something they won't like about you.

The dynamic between two individuals starts off with everything warm and nice and fabulous and good. Working and living together can serve you quite well, but when it starts to go wrong - oh, boy!

Imagine living in abject poverty and not knowing anything other than that for generations. Or alternatively, imagine being born into a really wealthy family, but there was no real love. Everyone's living these extraordinary, interesting lives whether they know it or not.

I live in a world of possibility and opportunity. You look for the light. There's darkness everywhere but you look for that spot of light and you work your way towards it, and you do what it takes to get there.

One wouldn't want to have the same dilemmas at 50 as one had at 15. And indeed I don't. I have a very different take on life.

Every artist has to make their own statements and they have to live with them.

In a sense, the music business and I haven't always been the best of bedfellows. Artists often have to fight their corner. Your music goes through these filters of record labels and media, and you're hoping you'll find someone who'll help you get your work into the world.

Making a Christmas album is looked upon by some people as the thing you do when you are heading towards retirement.

Please don't ask me for the actual answer to anything, because I don't have it. Because all I do is look at stuff and ask questions. What can I say? I just think the world's barking mad. Look, I'm not an expert. I'm just an ordinary person.

If one woman is suffering, then we are all suffering, and we need to put a voice to that.

If you come face to face with some really challenging situations and tragic circumstances - you are going in there with a purpose. You are not going in there as a tourist. You're not going there just to merely observe. You have a purpose, and your purpose is to tell that story, to share that story for the bigger benefit of millions of other people. Your purpose is to create that bridge so you can give that story the dignity and the focus that it deserves, and you can become a part of the amplification that needs to be there.

I think music is the most phenomenal platform for intellectual thought.

I'm not particularly attention-seeking.

I will go out of my way to avoid the shopping crowds and the extreme consumerism - I hate all that.

You have to be quite grounded, and I don't know what that is. Sometimes, that means being vulnerable.

The worst thing someone gets is isolated. Isolation is the darkest part of any condition.

I played with the image, because I think image is temporary. It's a projection. It's illusory.

Women's issues have always been a part of my life. My goal is to bring the word 'feminism' back into the zeitgeist and reframe it.

I only want to make music because I have a passion for it.

Each individual is as individual as their fingerprints, and I think that's extraordinary.

Charity is a fine thing if it's meeting a gap where needs must be met and there are no other resources. But in the long term we need to support people into helping themselves.

Nelson Mandela is awe inspiring - a person who really sacrificed for what he believed in. I feel truly humbled by him.

I've never experienced chronic poverty, but I know what it's like to live on £3 a week.

I want to be true to who I am.

I don't have clear-cut positions. I get baffled by things. I have viewpoints. Sometimes they change.

I don't think feminism is about the exclusion of men but their inclusion... we must face and address those issues, especially to include younger men and boys.

The world is a heartbreaking place, without any question.

Let me be the only one to keep you from the cold Now the floor of hell is laid, the stars are bright as gold They light for you, they shine for you They burn for all to see Come into these arms again and set your spirit free

I think life on the road really suits very egotistical men. It's set up for kings.

Life expectancy in many parts of Africa can be something around the age of thirty five to thirty eight. I mean you're very fortunate if you live to that age. In fact when I went to Uganda for the first time one of the things that occurred to me was that I saw very few elderly people.

In a way, it's all down to perception, isn't it? And everyone has their own take on everything.

I find beauty in a very independent state. It lives quietly. It's there to be discovered.

I wouldn't say that I've mellowed. I'm less mellow, perhaps.

Fashion is temporary; fashion is a race. What it's doing is giving you something that you say, "This is the outer wrapping of me." Style is something else. It's not quantifiable. Fashion is about selling. Fashion is about what's in. Style is independent of that; style is individual.

I also started writing songs because I had this burning activity in my heart and had to express myself.

I'm appalled that the word 'feminism' has been denigrated to a place of almost ridicule and I very passionately believe the word needs to be revalued and reintroduced with power and understanding that this is a global picture. It isn't about us and them.

Why are we not valuing the word 'feminism' when there is so much work to be done in terms of empowerment and emancipation of women everywhere?

I didn't want to be perceived as a girly girl on stage.

If we value what we've inherited for free - from other women - surely it's right morally and ethically for us to wake up and say, 'I'm a feminist. '

I stand on the shoulders of giants that have gone before me, in terms of affording people like myself, women, the access to democracy, the vote, medical treatment, education, everything that I've been given. It's all been earned.

Such is the scale and depth of poverty in many parts of the world that it won't be ended overnight. That is why if, like me, you want to see an end to poverty, you need to be in it for the long haul.

Fame for fame's sake is toxic - some people want that, with no boundaries. It's unhealthy.

When I was younger I wish I'd known that what often seemed to be the 'end of the world' often turned out to be a positive and transformative experience!

Fear paralyses you - fear of flying, fear of the future, fear of leaving a rubbish marriage, fear of public speaking, or whatever it is.

You just decide what your values are in life and what you are going to do, and then you feel like you count, and that makes life worth living. It makes my life meaningful.

There are two kinds of artists left: those who endorse Pepsi and those who simply won't.

There are so many things that we could do to change the world in so many aspects. There are people working in nonprofit organizations, tackling the issues that we so desperately need to face, while governments fail so appallingly.

You become really ugly when you become very superficial and self-obsessed.

For me, pointing and clicking my phone is absolutely fine. People say that isn't the art of photography but I don't agree.

Fundamentally, we are all in the same place: we're born, we live, and we're going to die. In between, we'll have joy and we'll have sadness.

When women get together as a group, it is immensely powerful.

I'm an only child, you know, originally. I'm not a child anymore, but I certainly tend to spend a lot of time on my own.

Something that's of common interest to every man, woman and child on the planet must surely be the notion of 'Peace'. Without 'Peace' we cannot survive. Valentine's Day is on the 14 February. Christmas Day is on the 25 December. Peace Day has been established by the United Nations on the 21 September, and the whole world is invited to participate.

To be labeled as a strong woman when you feel vulnerable is a strange place to be, because then you're, like, "Oh, I have to be strong now. But I don't feel strong. I feel alienated. I feel isolated. I feel that things are very surreal, and they're not authentic, and this is all just very overwhelming."

When things are starting to work, you get up at five in the morning thinking, what are we going to do today? You stay up until one in the morning getting it done, and then you start the next day with the same energy, because it's working!

Our ancestors are totally essential to our every waking moment, although most of us don't even have the faintest idea about their lives, their trials, their hardships or challenges.

Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world.

I identify with other women because of my gender, and I identify with other women if they are mothers because I'm a mother, too. It's very simple. It's nothing complicated, it's not rocket science. It's about empathy. It's about understanding that what happens with one person is potentially what happens to you, and seeing yourself in someone else's shoes. Fundamentally, we are all in the same place: we're born, we live, and we're going to die. In between, we'll have joy and we'll have sadness.

If you come face to face with some really challenging situations and tragic circumstances - you are going in there with a purpose. You are not going in there as a tourist.

As a creative person, you just put something out into the consciousness of the society you live in.

Twerking is not feminism. Thats what I’m referring to. It’s not — it’s not liberating, it’s not empowering. It’s a sexual thing that you’re doing on a stage; it doesn’t empower you. That’s my feeling about it.

I knew that I wanted to be a singer/songwriter when I was much younger and, um, I've been able to, you know, to realize that dream and I'm very pleased with that...I want to branch out. I want to write. I write poetry...Music is an extraordinary vehicle for expressing emotion-very powerful emotions.

I've had my share of dark days of the soul. I try not to focus on it too much so it doesn't get to me.

This is the book I never read ~ These are the words I never said ~ This is the path I'll never tread ~ These are the dreams I'll dream instead

Money is a good thing and it's obviously useful, but to work only for money or fame would never interest me.

I think the whole experience of being a human being on the planet is such a mystery, to be honest. Trying to figure out one's purpose and [asking] "What is it all about?"

I get very frustrated when I hear women saying, "Oh, feminism is passé," because I think feminism means empowerment. Men can be feminists, too! Many men are feminists. We need feminism. It's not against men; it's about the empowerment of women. It's the respect of women - giving women equal rights, the same opportunities.

We all come from women, and there's something extraordinary about the mothers who raised us.

I grew up in a middle class household with parents, went to good schools, and never feared for anything, never wanted for anything that was really important. For all of us living in this world, all of us who have the resources, for us to not dedicate ourselves to giving something back, is to leave the world a lesser place.

I love to be individual, to step beyond gender.

Dying is easy, it's living that scares me to death.

I was born in 1954. My parents were brought up in the war years, and life was hard.

We all fight over what the label 'feminism' means but for me it's about empowerment. It's not about being more powerful than men - it's about having equal rights with protection, support, justice. It's about very basic things. It's not a badge like a fashion item.

You can live with almost any condition if you're living within a community of people who can share a common understanding.

I have a reputation for being cold and aloof, but I'm so not that woman. I'm passionate. I love my girls, being with my girlfriends, getting involved with issues that affect other women and children who are suffering.

The poetic side of me is Scottish.

I'm not a Christian, but I think the Christian message is a good one.

Success breeds the excitement to continue going.

The future hasn't happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments, the moments that I'm in.

I haven't lived my life through my daughters. Some parents devote everything to their children, which must be so hard, and it's very beautiful. But I'm a working parent, so I've always kept my own life.

Humankind seems to have an enormous capacity for savagery, for brutality, for lack of empathy, for lack of compassion.

I have a lot to be grateful for.

As you get older, there will be a new challenge arising. What you thought you'd accomplished once, maybe the goal post has shifted and it's not what you're pursuing anymore, because you're not interested in that anymore, you know?

There must be an angel, Playing with my heart. And when I think that I'm alone, It seems there's more of us at home...

I don't have any interest to go to Israel. I don't think I'd ever have a cause to go.

I am fascinated by history and particularly the Victorian era.

I'm a female but I have a masculine side and I'm not going to negate that part of myself.

I want to branch out. I want to write. I write poetry. I want to see my children grow up well.

I'm from a working-class background, and I've experienced that worry of not having a job next week because the unions are going on strike.

A lot of music you might listen to is pretty vapid, it doesn't always deal with our deeper issues. These are the things I'm interested in now, particularly at my age.

There is a big difference between what I do onstage and what I do in my private life. I don't put my living room on magazine pages.

The momentum of time is always going forward. You cannot repeat what has been done before. You can't go back.

Most women are dissatisfied with their appearance - it's the stuff that fuels the beauty and fashion industries.

You know, I would say that songwriting is something about the expression of the heart, the intellect and the soul.

People ask me so many questions.

I enjoy multi-tasking, so I want to do a lot of different things. I want to keep all the plates spinning.

I don't take myself as seriously as some people think, and I'd hate anyone to think I was preaching. That's the last thing I want.

Anita Roddick was amazing. Her presence in a room was full of light, and everything she worked to achieve still resonates now.

Green is a label for a certain attitude to life, a certain kind of respect that one might have for the very source of things that we take for granted.

There needs to be a shift in consciousness; there needs to be an absolute wake-up call before society can actually make the kind of incredibly significant changes that need to happen.

I don't want to be owned by a corporation and obliged to make a certain type of album. I want to be free.

Just having medicine isn't equivalent to medical care. You need the health systems, you need to create the social framework so that people feel safe.

I didn't want to be a Barbie doll. I didn't want to be a passive entertainer. It wasn't how I wanted to present myself.

The general population still thinks HIV is something that came in the 80s and went away, or that it only affects the gay population or intravenous drug users.

Those in the developing world have so few rights - we take a lot for granted in the developed world.

Music is an extraordinary vehicle for expressing emotion - very powerful emotions. That's what draws millions of people towards it. And, um, I found myself always going for these darker places and - people identify with that.

I chose a career in obstetrics and gynecology because there's something about honoring women, honoring the birth process. We all come from women, and there's something extraordinary about the mothers who raised us.

I have different hats; I'm a mother, I'm a woman, I'm a human being, I'm an artist and hopefully I'm an advocate. All of those plates are things I spin all the time.

We're not interested to know the real heroes. We're really more interested in the villains, actually, and they seem to thrive, and it continues to be business as usual.

Desire, despair, desire. So many monsters.

I'd rather support the issues I truly believe in than give my vote to parties that court votes at the time of the election. I like to think that my vote strengthens the green foundation stone.