Michelle Bachelet Quotes

Powerful Michelle Bachelet for Daily Growth

About Michelle Bachelet

Michelle Bachelet Jeria, born on September 29, 1951, in Santiago, Chile, is a renowned political leader, human rights advocate, and the current United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to social justice and gender equality. Bachelet's early life was marked by adversity. Her father, a military officer, died when she was just six years old, and her family endured political persecution under the Augusto Pinochet regime. This turbulent upbringing fostered in Bachelet a deep-rooted passion for human rights. She studied medicine at the Universidad de Chile, earning her degree while also actively participating in pro-democracy movements. In 1974, Bachelet joined the Chilean Army as one of the few women doctors, working at military hospitals. However, she was dismissed from the army in 1975 for her political activities. After Pinochet's downfall in 1990, she returned to public service, serving as the National Director of the National Institute of Human Rights (INADI) from 1990 to 1993. Bachelet's political career took off in the mid-1990s when she was appointed Minister of Health and later Minister of Defense under President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. In 2006, she became Chile's first female president, serving until 2014. During her presidency, she implemented numerous social reforms focusing on education, healthcare, and poverty reduction. In 2018, Bachelet was elected as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a role she held until her appointment as Executive Director of UN Women in 2021. Throughout her career, Michelle Bachelet has been a beacon of hope and resilience, advocating tirelessly for human rights, gender equality, and social justice. Her legacy continues to inspire countless individuals around the world.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Respect for human rights and the rule of law must be at the heart of any society that aspires to peace and sustainable development."

This quote emphasizes the fundamental importance of upholding human rights and enforcing the rule of law in any society aiming for a peaceful and sustainable future. By respecting human rights, we ensure that individuals are treated fairly and with dignity, thereby fostering harmony within our communities. The rule of law guarantees equality before the law, promoting justice and preventing arbitrary decision-making or abuse of power. Together, they form a solid foundation for a prosperous, equitable, and stable society where all members can flourish.


"Women's participation in political and public life is essential to sustainable democracy and good governance."

This quote emphasizes the importance of women's involvement in political and public spheres for the maintenance of a functional, equitable, and sustainable democratic system. By acknowledging women's crucial role in these realms, we recognize that their unique perspectives contribute to sound decision-making, ensuring good governance and a more inclusive society. It underscores the idea that gender equality should not only be an aspiration but an integral part of a thriving democracy.


"Education is a fundamental human right, one that should never be denied or taken away from anyone on the basis of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or any other discriminatory factor."

This quote emphasizes the universal importance of education as a basic human right, which must be accessible to all individuals regardless of factors such as gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or any other discriminatory elements. The statement underscores the belief that everyone deserves equal opportunities for learning and personal growth, irrespective of personal characteristics, thereby fostering equality, inclusivity, and social justice in society.


"Inequality erodes trust in institutions, contributes to social unrest and can even be destabilizing for governments."

This quote emphasizes the detrimental impact of economic inequality on societal stability. When a significant portion of society perceives that wealth and opportunities are unfairly distributed, they may lose trust in institutions (such as government or corporations) responsible for such distribution. This can lead to social discord and unrest, posing a potential threat to the stability of governments. Therefore, addressing inequality is not just an issue of fairness but also one of maintaining social cohesion and political order.


"Everyone's human rights must be respected, protected, and fulfilled – without discrimination of any kind."

This quote by Michelle Bachelet emphasizes that all individuals should be treated equally and fairly, regardless of their personal characteristics such as race, gender, religion, or nationality. She advocates for universal respect, protection, and fulfillment of human rights, which is the fundamental basis for a just and equitable society. This stance against discrimination promotes a society where everyone has equal opportunities and the ability to live with dignity and freedom.


My father respected and admired my mother and was a person who was always standing by my side, encouraging me to do more and believed in my capacity. So in that sense, my own experience was very good in becoming an empowered woman. From early on, I carried that strong message: 'You can do it.' So I never had any doubt that women can do a lot.

- Michelle Bachelet

Strong, Becoming, Very, My Own

As the old joke goes, I have all the sins together. I am a woman, a Socialist, separated and agnostic.

- Michelle Bachelet

Woman, Old, Socialist, Joke

In today's interdependent world, a threat to one becomes a menace to all. And no state can defeat these challenges and threats alone.

- Michelle Bachelet

Challenges, Defeat, Becomes, Menace

There is no city or country in the world where women and girls live free of the fear of violence. No leader can claim: 'this is not happening in my backyard.'

- Michelle Bachelet

Leader, City, Country, Women And Girls

As more and more women, men and young people raise their voices and become active in local government, and more local leaders take action for the safety of women and girls, change happens.

- Michelle Bachelet

Change, Young, More, Women And Girls

By including women in decision-making, city governments will be in a better position to fulfill their responsibility to ensure the safety of their residents, especially women and girls.

- Michelle Bachelet

Including, Ensure, Fulfill, Women And Girls

People see I am a mother and head of a household. Today in Chile, one-third of households are run by women. They wake up, take the children to school, go to work. To them I am hope.

- Michelle Bachelet

Hope, Wake Up, Run, Households

I'm working for the women in the world, today; that's my essential issue.

- Michelle Bachelet

Today, World, Issue, Essential

We have to make sure that women's issues are an essential element on the agendas of all heads of state, all governments.

- Michelle Bachelet

Sure, Agendas, Governments, Essential

The current global landscape is quite different from the not-too-distant past. The process of globalization has intensified, and the world is moving towards new forms of governance.

- Michelle Bachelet

Process, New, New Forms, Intensified

One of the factors a country's economy depends on is human capital. If you don't provide women with adequate access to healthcare, education and employment, you lose at least half of your potential. So, gender equality and women's empowerment bring huge economic benefits.

- Michelle Bachelet

Country, Benefits, Capital, Employment

Because I'm a doctor, I know when you have an injury it will heal if it's clean enough to heal; if your injury is dirty, it won't heal. And so when you are talking in societies, we are also talking in healing processes, and for a good healing process, you need to make things right.

- Michelle Bachelet

Good, Talking, Your, Heal

The 2010 global gender gap report by the World Economic Forum shows that countries with better gender equality have faster-growing, more competitive economies.

- Michelle Bachelet

Gender, More, Global, Forum

As a major economic force worldwide, India and Indian companies have the opportunity to set the standards in Asia in terms of women's right to decent work.

- Michelle Bachelet

Work, Asia, Set, Indian

The possibility of my presidential candidacy emerged spontaneously in public opinion polls. For my part, I noticed people's affection when I was doing work on the ground. I think the important thing is that my candidacy was born from citizens themselves, driven by the people and which the parties picked up favorably.

- Michelle Bachelet

Doing, Spontaneously, Presidential

As women politicians, we talk about the most difficult themes of state security, foreign relations and development models, then ask, 'How do you make it work with your husband?' The interesting thing is that these women - most of them - don't lose the perspective that the focus is not the position but the job at hand.

- Michelle Bachelet

Focus, Husband, About, Relations

Given political history in Chile, it seemed to me that there was a critical task of consolidating a democracy and creating healthy civic-military and political-military relationships.

- Michelle Bachelet

Critical, Given, Seemed, Consolidating

My message to women is: Women: We can do it. We are capable of doing almost anything, but we must learn we cannot do it all at once, we need to prioritize.

- Michelle Bachelet

Doing, We Cannot, Almost, Prioritize

You have to be doing things that matter - responsibility, but also responsibility with epic and beautiful and noble tasks.

- Michelle Bachelet

Beautiful, Doing, Things, Tasks

We have had scarce investment in women... One of my tasks is that everyone spends much more on women.

- Michelle Bachelet

Investment, More, Everyone, Tasks

I am a woman with a calling for social struggle and public service.

- Michelle Bachelet

I Am, Woman, Public, Struggle

There has been a cultural shift. It is difficult to measure all that right now, but Chilean women have seen my presidency as a source of pride. Women are performing in jobs in Chile now that 20 or 30 years ago nobody would have dared to imagine.

- Michelle Bachelet

Been, Shift, Source, Dared

When I'm speaking of love, when I'm speaking of reversing hate, I'm speaking not only of reconciliation - even I don't use that word - I use another word in Spanish, that's called 'reencuentro' - it's not reconciliation.

- Michelle Bachelet

Love, Use, Spanish, Reconciliation

Chile has done a lot to rid itself of poverty, especially extreme poverty, since the return to democracy. But we still have a ways to go toward greater equity. This country does not have a neoliberal economic model anymore. We have put in place a lot of policies that will ensure that economic growth goes hand in hand with social justice.

- Michelle Bachelet

Country, Policies, Rid, Economic

The respect for human rights is nowadays not so much a matter of having international standards, but rather questions of compliance with those standards.

- Michelle Bachelet

Questions, Rather, Having, International

During my lifetime, I realized that discrimination was not accidental, that there were structural roots and causes to it. So if we wanted to change women's lives, we need to deal with those root causes.

- Michelle Bachelet

Need, Deal, Lives, Accidental

As a vibrant force in civil society, women continue to press for their rights, equal participation in decision-making, and the upholding of the principles of the revolution by the highest levels of leadership in Egypt.

- Michelle Bachelet

Participation, Vibrant, Decision-Making

Violence against women in all its forms is a human rights violation. It's not something that any culture, religion or tradition propagates.

- Michelle Bachelet

Something, Against, Any, Forms

Having been a head of state gives you the possibility of getting into places others can't go.

- Michelle Bachelet

Go, Been, Having, Possibility

There's full consensus in the military that women shouldn't be in person-to-person combat. I don't know if we have enough experience to know whether this is the right approach. But women can be elsewhere. We have mandatory military service in Chile. I pushed for women in all areas.

- Michelle Bachelet

Experience, Combat, Approach, Military Service

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