Betty

“So with a lot of difficulty, I picked up this huge snapping turtle and slowly carried it down the road to the river.

Just as I had slipped it into the water and was watching it swim away, my geology professor came up behind me. “You know,” he said quietly, “that turtle has probably spent a month crawling up the dirt path to lay its eggs in the mud on the side of the road—you have just put it back in the river.”

I felt terrible. I couldn’t believe what I had done, but it was too late. It took me many more years to realize this parable had taught me the first rule of organizing.

Always ask the turtle.”
― Gloria Steinem, My Life on the Road

“If someone called me a lesbian—in those days all single feminists were assumed to be lesbians—I learned just to say, “Thank you.” It disclosed nothing, confused the accuser, conveyed solidarity with women who were lesbians, and made the audience laugh.”
― Gloria Steinem, My Life on the Road

“Laughter is an orgasm of the mind.”
― Gloria Steinem

“Voting isn't the most we can do, but the least. To have a democracy, you have to want one.”
― Gloria Steinem, My Life on the Road