Mary Robinson

The fight for human rights is about speaking truth to power.

— Mary Robinson

Maybe this society, if anything, has become more patriarchal, and that has to be combated.

— Mary Robinson

I can see the immense capacity of business to give leadership.

— Mary Robinson

The Snow-drop, Winter's timid child, Awakes to life, bedew'd with tears.

— Mary Robinson

Climate change is the greatest threat to human rights in the 21st century.

— Mary Robinson

Finance ministers must realize that the health budget can save them money if it's applied well.

— Mary Robinson

Today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts.

— Mary Robinson

I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system.

— Mary Robinson

It's only after their death that people are truly appreciated. It's because they are true to values.

— Mary Robinson

To make progress we have to build a multi-stakeholder process, harnessing the appropriate energies.

— Mary Robinson

Particularly here in the United States there is a lack of comprehension about anything to do with the United Nations.

— Mary Robinson

Many people today in the developed countries are so far removed from poverty and suffering and starvation that they lack empathy for…

— Mary Robinson

You can convene a wider cross-section if you have no turf to defend, because then you don't cut across anyone else's agenda…

— Mary Robinson

I do not support individual countries taking military action against another country because of its human rights record, or subsequently justifying taking…

— Mary Robinson

When a genocidal killing occurs, as happened in Rwanda, it is not just an internal domestic matter.

— Mary Robinson

Using human rights commitments more effectively, either as part of negotiations in the WTO or as part of the trade policy review…

— Mary Robinson

The fifth province is not anywhere here or there, north or south, east or west. It is a place within each of…

— Mary Robinson

The structures of the WTO need to be reformed to increase participation. There must be a greater sense of shared ownership of…

— Mary Robinson

If the Chinese business community takes the Declaration of Human Rights, core labor standards, and environmental standards seriously, the government of China…

— Mary Robinson

When globalisation means that many of the services that individual governments used to have direct power over are privatised, in education and…

— Mary Robinson

The United Nations is actually a mid-20th century institution and much weaker than it was when it was originally created, because governments…

— Mary Robinson

I was influenced at an early age by Gandhi, and I have read many biographies of him. I have been greatly influenced…

— Mary Robinson

Democratic governments are not delivering on their promises, which is partly due to the fact that governments are less powerful than they…

— Mary Robinson

The international human rights framework is a vital component and engine for promoting global values. Governments have signed up to this international…

— Mary Robinson

The first thing to recognize is how fortunate Ireland is to be an island off the west coast of Europe, and therefore…

— Mary Robinson

It is a great problem for the true international agenda of human rights that the United States, uniquely among industrialised countries, has…

— Mary Robinson

We have long had emigration in Ireland. But the nature of emigration has changed. With ferries to Britain and the continent, as…

— Mary Robinson

The Great Famine is a period of our history that we need to know in great detail in order to understand its…

— Mary Robinson

From Iraq to Guantanamo Bay, international standards and the framework of international law are being given less when they should be given…

— Mary Robinson

We need a more holistic approach in which we take account of society's most vulnerable sectors. We shouldn't just do broad averaging…

— Mary Robinson

The term 'human rights' has been too often associated with conditionality, and with concerns of developing countries that in order to benefit…

— Mary Robinson

We must understand the role of human rights as empowering of individuals and communities. By protecting these rights, we can help prevent…

— Mary Robinson

The changing climate is a threat to human rights.

— Mary Robinson

Many people think that we have no shared value system in the world today but we actually do.

— Mary Robinson

All countries are particular and no models are perfect.

— Mary Robinson

I want to see a UN that enables a gathering of energies in which business plays its proper role.

— Mary Robinson

It is people who go through suffering that have an empathy for the suffering of others.

— Mary Robinson

The whole human rights structure is based on the accountability of governments.

— Mary Robinson

We will not let governments off the hook. We will look to civil society to help us, to pin governments, to what…

— Mary Robinson

Freedom from discrimination for women, ensuring that female children can learn to read, these are human needs for half the human race,…

— Mary Robinson