Corazon Aquino Quotes

Corazon Aquino was the first woman to run for President in the Philippines. Corazon Aquino was attending law school when she met her future husband, Benigno Aquino, who was assassinated in 1983 when he returned to the Philippines to renew his opposition to President Ferdinand Marcos. Corazon Aquino ran for President against Marcos, and she won the seat despite Marcos' attempt to portray himself the winner.

Selected Corazon Aquino Quotations

• Politics must not remain a bastion of male dominance, for there is much that women can bring into politics that would make our world a kinder, gentler place for humanity to thrive in.

• It is true you cannot eat freedom and you cannot power machinery with democracy. But then neither can political prisoners turn on the light in the cells of a dictatorship.

• Reconciliation should be accompanied by justice, otherwise it will not last. While we all hope for peace it shouldn't be peace at any cost but peace based on principle, on justice.

• As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it.

• Freedom of expression - in particular, freedom of the press - guarantees popular participation in the decisions and actions of government, and popular participation is the essence of our democracy.

• One must be frank to be relevant.

• It has often been said that Marcos was the first male chauvinist to underestimate me.

• National leaders who find themselves wilting under the withering criticisms by members of the media, would do well not to take such criticism personally but to regard the media as their allies in keeping the government clean and honest, its services efficient and timely, and its commitment to democracy strong and unwavering.

• The media's power is frail. Without the people's support, it can be shut off with the ease of turning a light switch.

• I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life.

• Prime Ministers and Presidents

About These Quotes

Quote collection assembled by Jone Johnson Lewis. Each quotation page in this collection and the entire collection © Jone Johnson Lewis. This is an informal collection assembled over many years. I regret that I am not be able to provide the original source if it is not listed with the quote.