The six people who had the biggest impact on my life were all

The words of Zig Ziglar shine with gratitude and humility: “The six people who had the biggest impact on my life were all women. Had I been sexist, my life would have been far less fulfilling.” In this confession, he reveals a truth that is both personal and universal—that the wisdom, guidance, and love of women shape lives in ways immeasurable, and that prejudice against them would rob a man not only of justice but of joy itself. His statement is both testimony and warning: honor women, or live a life diminished.

Ziglar, a great teacher of motivation and perseverance, was shaped by his early hardships. Raised in poverty, he often spoke of how his mother, widowed with many children, bore the weight of the household with strength and unyielding faith. Her endurance was one of his first lessons in resilience. Alongside her stood teachers, mentors, and companions—all women—who poured into him the strength that later overflowed into his words to the world. Without their influence, he himself admits, his path would have been narrow, his life far less rich.

History affirms this same truth. The scientist Louis Pasteur credited his wife Marie with preserving his manuscripts and legacy when illness threatened to silence him. Without her devotion, the discoveries that reshaped medicine might have been lost. In the arts, Beethoven’s struggles were steadied by women patrons who funded his work. Again and again, history shows that behind greatness often stand women, not in shadow but as pillars without which the edifice would collapse.

The sting of Ziglar’s words lies in the reminder that sexism blinds men to the very sources of their strength. To dismiss women is to dismiss half the wisdom of the world; to belittle them is to belittle the very hands that have lifted us. He teaches that prejudice is not only injustice against women, but poverty of spirit for men. Those who cling to arrogance deprive themselves of the relationships, insights, and love that make life whole.

So let the generations remember: the measure of fulfillment is not in what one achieves alone, but in who has shaped the journey. If six women transformed Ziglar, how many lives might each of us be denying by failing to honor the women around us? Let his words stand as a commandment: cast away sexism, not only for the sake of justice, but for the sake of joy. For in every man’s story, and in every nation’s history, women have been the hidden architects of destiny.