“O ka papa he'e nalu kēia, pahe'e i ka nalu ha'i o Makaiwa.
This is the surfboard that will glide on the rolling surf of Makaiwa.
A woman's boast. Her beautiful body is like the surfboard on which her mate "glides over the rolling surf.”
Source: Nā Wahine: Hawaiian Proverbs and Inspirational Quotes Celebrating Women in Hawai'i
“Hā'awe i ke kua; hi'i i ke alo.
A burden on the back; a babe in the arms.
Said of a hard-working woman who carries a load on her back and a baby in her arms.”
Source: Nā Wahine: Hawaiian Proverbs and Inspirational Quotes Celebrating Women in Hawai'i
“Oh, honest Americans, as Christians hear me for my down-trodden people! Their form of government is as dear to them as yours is precious to you. Quite as warmly as you love your country, so they love theirs...It is for them that I would give the last drop of my blood; it is for them that I would spend, nay, am spending, everything belonging to me. Will it be in vain? It is for the American people and their representatives in Congress to answer these questions. As they deal with me and my people, kindly, generously, and justly, so may the Great Ruler of all nations deal with the grand and glorious nation of the United States of America.
Queen Lili'uokalani, 1896”
Source: Nā Wahine: Hawaiian Proverbs and Inspirational Quotes Celebrating Women in Hawai'i
“...A majestic wahine with small, bare feet, a grand, swinging, deliberate gait, hibiscus blossoms in her flowing hair, and a lei of yellow flowers flowing over her holoku, marching through these streets, has a tragic grandeur of appearance, which makes the diminutive, fair-skinned haole, tottering along hesitatingly in high-heeled shoes, look grotesque by comparison.
Isabella Bird”
Source: Nā Wahine: Hawaiian Proverbs and Inspirational Quotes Celebrating Women in Hawai'i
“Luhi wahine 'ia.
Labored over by a woman.
Spoken in respect and admiration of a family reared by a woman who alone fed and clothed them.”
Source: Nā Wahine: Hawaiian Proverbs and Inspirational Quotes Celebrating Women in Hawai'i
“He 'upena nae; 'a'ohe i'a hei 'ole.
It is a fine-meshed net; there is no fish that it does not fail to catch.
Said of a woman who never fails to attract the opposite sex.”
Source: Nā Wahine: Hawaiian Proverbs and Inspirational Quotes Celebrating Women in Hawai'i
“Learning from my tūtū and aunty meant being very disciplined; there was no fooling around. You had to watch, listen and follow. There wasn't a whole lot of in-depth explanation of what you were doing. You were expected to know it.
Hōkūlani Hold-Padilla”
Source: Nā Wahine: Hawaiian Proverbs and Inspirational Quotes Celebrating Women in Hawai'i
“In the end, a religion can be judged by these simple measures: how it treats its women, how it cares for the helpless, and how it respects other religions.”
Source: The Other Wife: A Novel in Verse
“Even in modern-day, there weren't many men that genuinely respected women, let alone men from over a hundred years ago.”
Source: [歌剧魅影]魔鬼的美人
“My hunger roused me. In the depths of the sea, I drew upon my greed, my insatiable ambition. I cried out to my shadow self, my truest self, and reached for her through her iron imprisonment. I understood now why I was called a perversion. It was unnatural for a woman to have this kind of ambition, and yet I existed. My existence was my birthright, and it would be my justification.”
Source: The Night Ends with Fire