Quote of the Week: Benazir Bhutto

“You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea.”

My heart weeps today for Benazir Bhutto, taken either by gunfire or a suicide bomber, depending on the reports you read: news agencies are still trying to determine the details. Either way, it is dreadful to lose a former world leader, especially one as committed to peace as Bhutto always seemed to be. And it’s frightening to think about what her loss might mean for the already fragile idea of world peace. So sad, also to have lost such a noble female role model. We need the ones we have.

The Harvard and Oxford educated Bhutto was born June 21, 1953 and was the daughter of former Pakistani prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She was herself twice prime minister, the first woman ever elected to head a muslim state.

According to the Times Online, after an assassination attempt last October, Bhutto said, “We are prepared to risk our lives. We’re prepared to risk our liberty. But we’re not prepared to surrender this great nation to militants. The attack was on what I represent. The attack was on democracy and very unity and integrity of Pakistan.”

That paper has posted a collection of recent Bhutto quotes, with links to articles about her life and death. It’s a fast tribute but, like the woman herself, it’s quite lovely. Meanwhile, the BBC has posted an obituary here.

A sad note on which to end the year.