Madeleine albright quotes

What people have the capacity to choose, they have the ability to change.

If intelligence were a television set, it would be an early black-and-white model with poor reception, so that much of the picture was gray and the figures on the screen were snowy and indistinct. You could fiddle with the knobs all you wanted, but unless you were careful, what you would see often depended more on what you expected or hoped to see than on what was really there.

The main thing is to remain oneself, under any circumstances; that was and is our common purpose.

To put it mildly, the world is a mess.

I think that we all know what evil is. We have a sense of what's evil, and certainly killing innocent people is evil. We're less sure about what is good. There's sort of good, good enough, could be better - but absolute good is a little harder to define.

We must be authors of the history of our age.

I think that a president needs to have a variety of views presented. But also, there has to be a team effort, because otherwise, I think it creates a dissonance and difficulty.

I've never been to New Zealand before. But one of my role models, Xena, the warrior princess, comes from there.

I teach at Georgetown, and I see that the students have so many different interests. The main thing is to match your passion with your knowledge, because you can't just be passionate without knowing the facts, and facts are really boring without passion.

I do believe that in order to be a successful negotiator that as a diplomat, you have to be able to put yourself into the other person's shoes. Unless you can understand what is motivating them, you are never going to be able to figure out how to solve a particular problem.

To be safe at the expense of the liberty of other people is a difficult equation.

A skilled diplomat rarely generates extreme reactions.

I think that there is never an indispensable leader, you know? I think that there is a time with dignity that one needs to leave.

But I do not believe that the world would be entirely different if there were more women leaders. Maybe if everybody in leadership was a woman, you might not get into the conflicts in the first place. But if you watch the women who have made it to the top, they haven't exactly been non-aggressive - including me.

Women can't do everything at the same time, we need to understand milestones in our lives comes in segments.

If you look at U.S. history through religious history, there is very much a motif that shows the importance religion has played in the U.S. We're a very religious country and it affects the way we look at various political issues.

The reason I made women's issues central to American foreign policy, was not because I was a feminist, but because we know that societies are more stable if women are politically and economically empowered.

The best book, like the best speech, will do it all - make us laugh, think, cry and cheer - preferably in that order.

I love being a woman and I was not one of these women who rose through professional life by wearing men's clothes or looking masculine. I loved wearing bright colors and being who I am.

A lot of people think international relations is like a game of chess. But it's not a game of chess, where people sit quietly, thinking out their strategy, taking their time between moves. It's more like a game of billiards, with a bunch of balls clustered together.

I think women want to take care of themselves, and I think having a voice in how that is done is very important.

Jewelry and pins have been worn throughout history as symbols of power, sending messages. Interestingly enough, it was mostly men who wore the jewelry in various times, and obviously crowns were part of signals that were being sent throughout history by people of rank.

Democracy cannot be built on revenge and you will not have the support of the world if you are intolerant and take the law into your own hands.

The world would be entirely different if it were run by women. I think it is true that we are more seeking consensus and don't have such big egos and have a variety of different ways of trying to get along. But anybody who says that the world would be better has forgotten high school. It depends on who the women are.

I have very set and consistent principles, but I am flexible on tactics. I like to get the job done.

China is in its own category - too big to ignore, too repressive to embrace, difficult to influence, and very, very proud.

I think that the Middle East is the largest piece of unfinished business that we all have. I happen to believe in the democratization process.

The difference between humans and other mammals is that we know how to accessorize.

One of the things that was really an issue was I did not want to just be a woman secretary of state. I wanted to be a secretary of a state who was a woman, but not just chosen for that particular reason.

Only in America could a refugee girl from Central Europe become secretary of state.

There are an awful lot of things going on that need understanding and explanation, but - to put it mildly - the world is a mess.

The process of education in the oldest profession in the world is like any other educational process, in that it requires time andeffort and patience; it can only be acquired by taking one step at a time, though the steps become accelerated after the first few.

We are very hip on the fact that America's always No. 1. On this we are not, in terms of the number of women in our legislative branches and obviously as head of state. We need to push on that. I hate to say this: It isn't all men's fault. I think some of it is our own attitude and approach. Some of it very healthy, that women want to make choices about their lives and how they want to spend their time, and what they value.

We went to the same college so I know [Hillary Clinton's] study habits, but when she was first lady of Arkansas, she did a lot of things already for children, and she was head of the Children's Defense Fund, and that's how I first heard her or met her, she was very very involved in really a very important social program to do something about children and women and education.

I have always thought of myself as a Czechoslovak Catholic.

No matter what message you are about to deliver somewhere, whether it is holding out a hand of friendship, or making clear that you disapprove of something, is the fact that the person sitting across the table is a human being, so the goal is to always establish common ground.

Embrace the faith that every challenge surmounted by your energy; every problem solved by your wisdom; every soul stirred by your passion; and every barrier to justice brought down by your determination will ennoble your life, inspire others, serve your country, and explode outward the boundaries of what is achievable on this earth.

Women have to work exceptionally hard.

Well, the thing that I learned as a diplomat is that human relations ultimately make a huge difference.

I really think that there was a great advantage in many ways to being a woman. I think we are a lot better at personal relationships, and then have the capability obviously of telling it like it is when it's necessary.

History is written backwards but lived forwards.

When we're trying to solve difficult national issues its sometimes necessary to talk to adversaries as well as friends. Historians have a word for this: diplomacy.

I think there has to be the sense that once you have climbed the ladder of success, that you don't push it away from the building.

We will not be intimidated or pushed off the world stage by people who do not like what we stand for, and that is, freedom, democracy and the fight against disease, poverty and terrorism.

I am by nature a worried optimist.

I enjoy wearing pins, and nobody tells me to do it.

I didn't want to set up a women's studies program. I thought women should learn to operate in a coeducational atmosphere, because, especially in national security and international affairs, it's male-dominated.

I'm a problem-solver.

It is an unfortunate fact that in many parts of the world women are considered property. An awful lot of injustice is obviously due to that; not just women's status in the home, but all kinds of laws that are even more discriminating.

While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.

Armageddon is not a foreign policy.

There is a significant moral difference between a person who commits a violent crime and a person who tries to cross a border illegally in order to put food on the family table. Such migrants my violate our laws against illicit entry, but if that's all they do they are trespassers, not criminals. They deserve to have their dignity respected.

It's one thing to be religious, but it's another thing to make religion your policy.

As you go along your own road in life, you will, if you aim high enough, also meet resistance... But no matter how tough the opposition may seem, have courage still and persevere.

Our collective experience has shown that when women have the power to make their own choices, good things happen.

I got married three days after graduation, and the first thing I did what I was expected to do which was to work on a small newspaper. So we were in Chicago where my husband worked for the Chicago Sun-Times and we were having dinner with his editor and he said 'So what are you 'gonna do honey?' and I said 'I'm going to work on a newspaper', and he said 'I don't think so", because Newspaper Guild regulations said that I couldn't work on the same newspaper as my husband.

I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life.

I don't actually believe in a clash of civilizations. I believe in a clash of the civilized and the noncivilized.

I do think that she [Hillary Clinton] will prove that she's the best, whether she's in the White House or somewhere else. I think it will very much be a historic moment, when we are able to say that we actually have done something like put a woman in the White House. Its very interesting to think about considering its taken us long as it has.

There is plenty of room in the world for mediocre men but there is no room for mediocre women.

You think that the heads of state only have serious conversations, but they actually often begin really with the weather or, 'I really like your tie.'

Because of my parents' love of democracy, we came to America after being driven twice from our home in Czechoslovakia - first by Hitler and then by Stalin.

As a child, I really did see buildings bombed, and what makes me different from an American that's the same age as I am is that I can understand what happens when there is fighting in a way that they couldn't.

We have a responsibility in our time, as others have had in theirs, not to be prisoners of history but to shape history, a responsibility to fill the role of path-finder, and to build with others a global network of purpose and law.

I know that war is very cruel and that life is harder when you aren't able to live in the place you called home.

I am not a fatalist. I have just been reading War and Peace and Tolstoy is such a fatalist. I think people can make a difference... I am an optimist who worries a lot.

In diplomacy, clear-cut wins and losses are rare.

Every new president inherits headaches, but President Obama has inherited an entire emergency room.

When somebody is flying airplanes into buildings and killing innocent people in the name of God, it makes you question why do they have that interpretation and somebody else has another interpretation, and how many people of Muslim faith would agree with that, and what are the different aspects of different people's religions that is so divisive, rather than being unifying?

Our life comes in segments, and we have to understand that we can have it all if we're not trying to do it all at once.

My deepest regret from my years in public service is the failure of the United States and the international community to act sooner to halt these crimes.

Libraries are fun, educational, and the biggest bargain on the face of the earth.

I think this is a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it.

the purpose of foreign policy is to persuade others to do what we want or, better yet, to want what we want.

If there's nobody in your way, you're not going anywhere.

There's nobody who's had a resume like [Hillary Clinton] that's run for president.

I was struck by the joy of those pilots in committing coldblooded murder . . . Frankly, this is not cojones. This is cowardice.

One of the issues I kept saying to my students is you have to learn to interrupt. When you raise your hand at a meeting, by the time they get to you, the point is not germane. So the bottom line is active listening. If you are going to interrupt, you look for opportunities. You have to know what you're talking about.

We have to understand where we have strategic relationships that require us to take a different approach. I guess the easiest way to describe it is: different strokes for different folks.

The cover-up, more than the initial wrongdoing, is what is most likely to bring you down.

In 1953, the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. The Eisenhower administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons, but the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development and it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs.

Mahmoud Abbas is a puppet.

I am a beneficiary of the American people's generosity, and I hope we can have comprehensive immigration legislation that allows this country to continue to be enriched by those who were not born here.

There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women.

If you look at my life, generally, I've been put in situations which were difficult and which I conquered.

Iraq is a long way from the U.S., but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.

The magic of America is that we're a free and open society with a mixed population. Part of our security is our freedom.

It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.

We live in an image society. Speeches are not what anybody cares about; what they care about is the picture.

I spent my life studying communism and Soviet systems.

The system he (President Hosni Mubarak) is recommending would make it virtually impossible for truly independent parties to participate. Sham democracy should be exposed for what it truly is.

The U.N. bureaucracy has grown to elephantine proportions. Now that the Cold War is over, we are asking that elephant to do gymnastics.

I think I've revived the costume-jewelry industry.

I do not believe that things happen accidentally; I believe you earn them.

I have had fun being who I became, so to speak.

If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.

The Framework Agreement is one of the best things the [Clinton] Administration has done because it stopped a nuclear weapons program in North Korea.

To understand Europe, you have to be a genius - or French.

I am the only high-ranking U.S. official to ever meet with Kim Jong-il, and we are the same height and both wear high heels.

Even before I went to the UN, I often would want to say something in a meeting - only woman at the table - and I'd think, 'OK well, I don't think I'll say that. It may sound stupid.' And then some man says it, and everybody thinks it's completely brilliant, and you are so mad at yourself for not saying something.

I really do think about the fact that every day counts. I believe that every individual counts, and so I believe that every day counts and I try not to waste it.

Whatever the job you are asked to do at whatever level, do a good job because your reputation is your resume.

I've never seen America as an imperialist or colonialist or meddling country.

What you have to be concerned about are the extremists. On the whole, we need to understand the more moderate Muslims before they become more radicalized.

I have said this many times, that there seems to be enough room in the world for mediocre men, but not for mediocre women, and we really have to work very, very hard.

Today, I say that no nation in the world need be left out of the global system we are constructing.

The other thing that happened was that we have a tendency to project our own weaknesses onto another woman. I don't think men do that particularly.

Life is grim, and we don't have to be grim all the time.

Well I do think, when there are more women, that the tone of the conversation changes, and also the goals of the conversation change. But it doesn't mean that the whole world would be a lot better if it were totally run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten high school.

I can't imagine what it is like to be raised in a society where their only statues that exist are to you and your father.

We must help women in every society to have their voices heard.

Leaders are made by the situations they are involved in. I think that some rise to the occasion and some do not.

Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women. The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden.

There were always jokes about Hillary Clinton channeling Eleanor Roosevelt, but Eleanor Roosevelt was really instrumental at the UN, and would want to meet with various other delegates.

Foreign policy is now a huge field. It isn't just people who are studying political science. There are so many aspects to it in terms of understanding hard science for people who are studying climate change, or people who are interested in health policy or food security, or people who care about education.

Women have to be active listeners and interrupters - but when you interrupt, you have to know what you are talking about.

Glass ceilings have been broken, but more have to be broken.

Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing.

In A Man With a Pipe, my brother observed that although my father had been seen as intellectual and my mother more a creature of temperament, she had often been the more levelheaded of the two. In sum, we miss them as we love them, equally and always.

You have to learn to interrupt because you aren't going to get called on.

You [young people] all are just much more internationally-minded and traveled and knowledgeable in languages than any other previous generation. So many of you are already doing a lot of international relations, I think. I so believe in student networks, and people that either study abroad or come to the United States to study, and the relationships that you all develop. You learn a lot from each other, but you all will see each other again in jobs along the way. And I think that makes a big difference. I so believe in what students can do.

I'm not a person who thinks the world would be entirely different if it was run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten what high school was like.

But I think there are some who believe they are actually protecting women, you know, and that it is better for women to be taken care of. I think women want to take care of themselves, and I think having a voice in how that is done is very important. And frankly, I don’t understand — I mean, I’m obviously a card-carrying Democrat — but I can’t understand why any woman would want to vote for Mitt Romney, except maybe Mrs. Romney.

As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.

I'm for democracy, but imposing democracy is an oxymoron. People have to choose democracy, and it has to come up from below.