On being awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1980: They didn't understand that I'd have more power when I'd been invested, more power to fight for them and for all the Maori people against the government.
I should have been a boy because I love men's conversation - I'm not interested in fashion and all that. All men the King, the Governor, the big chiefs they all come out of a woman. Without women they wouldn't even be alive.
Before I close my eyes, to see our Maori people understand the two races in New Zealand will love that's what you want, that love between two people.