330 Quotes by Annie Lennox

We all fight over what the label ‘feminism’ means but for me it’s about empowerment. It’s not about being more powerful than men – it’s about having equal rights with protection, support, justice. It’s about very basic things. It’s not a badge like a fashion item.

Please don’t ask me for the actual answer to anything, because I don’t have it. Because all I do is look at stuff and ask questions. What can I say? I just think the world’s barking mad. Look, I’m not an expert. I’m just an ordinary person.

Pop stars are so busy having a career that they don’t really have a lot of time for activism.

Life expectancy in many parts of Africa can be something around the age of thirty five to thirty eight. I mean you’re very fortunate if you live to that age. In fact when I went to Uganda for the first time one of the things that occurred to me was that I saw very few elderly people.

I have always felt a little homeless. It’s a strange thing.

Music is an extraordinary vehicle for expressing emotion – very powerful emotions. That’s what draws millions of people towards it. And, um, I found myself always going for these darker places and – people identify with that.

What’s really interesting is when you get a brand-new wave that has no connection to anything else. It always reflects society. The flappers would cut the dresses and make them looser, they smoked, their hair was short. It was a rebellion against the corset and the Edwardian era.

There’s a lot of women’s organisations, but they’re all working separately. If you get people together, as a collaborative voice, it’s strong.

The person who inspired me the most was a friend of mine, Anita Roddick. I know that Anita wasn’t known to be an ardent feminist, but she truly was.