Statesman

I beg you I no magician. I can't just wave a magic wand.

All girls know that they can be anything now. That transformation is to me one of the most satisfying things.

Liberia just needs to go through this one political transition and it can really take off. Everything's in place now. We cannot afford to put the country in the hands of someone that lacks the experience.

I would like to make sure, first of all, that our women in the informal sector - I mean, these are the farmers and the traders; many of them are not educated, many of them lacking literacy - be able to give them better working conditions. And we've done a lot to be able to achieve that.

In terms of being able to renew my nation, to be able to be able to bring back a devastated country, to restore hope to our people, to lift women and to give them a new horizon, a new ambition and new dreams, in respect of all of that, I think we've accomplished it, and I feel very good about that.

I've been involved in politics for quite some time. I've held positions, and my experiences are very deep, and I think I have the capacity, the courage, and the character to institute the kinds of reforms that are so desperately needed.

I stand by it. I take the criticism for it. I think it's unfair, but yes, there is a thing about nepotism, and we all try to respect it.

I think the majority of the Liberian people want peace.

As more men become more educated and women get educated, the value system has to be more enhanced and the respect for human dignity and human life is made better.

I don't think people understand the awesomeness of the destruction of this country - its institutions, its infrastructure, its law, its morals.

My mother was the strength. She was the anchor. She was a preacher and a teacher.

Women work harder. And women are more honest; they have less reasons to be corrupt.

I work hard, I work late, I have nothing on my conscience. When I go to bed, I sleep.

My mother was a disciplinarian. She believed that when young girls start to go out with young boys, they get married.

One has to look at my life story to see what I've done. I've paid a heavy price that many people don't realize.

I just think that unless you have that cohesiveness in the family unit, the male character tends to become very dominant, repressive and insensitive. So much of this comes also from a lack of education.

The people of Liberia know what it means to be deprived of clean water, but we also know what it means to see our children to begin to smile again with a restoration of hope and faith in the future.

We've done a lot to restore Liberia's credibility, Liberia's reputation, Liberia's presence.

The future belongs to us, because we have taken charge of it. We have the commitment, we have the resourcefulness, and we have the strength of our people to share the dream across Africa of clean water for all.

We have to overcome the practice of male domination - even though it's changing, and changing in Liberia quite drastically.