Madeleine Albright Quotes

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The only thing I have to go by is what my mother and father told me, how I was brought up.

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

My mind-set is Munich. Most of my generation's is Vietnam.

I was a little girl in World War II and I'm used to being freed by Americans.

Our strategic dialogue with China can both protect American interests and uphold our principles, provided we are honest about our differences on human rights and other issues and provided we use a mix of targeted incentives and sanctions to narrow these differences.

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

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

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.

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.

Saddam's goal is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed.

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.

Hussein has chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.

I was in Europe and it was at this stage that I fell in love with Americans in uniform. And I continue to have that love affair.

What a blast it is to be here with Michael Moore.

No matter how hard we might wish, we will not be able to transform China's behavior overnight.

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

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.'

I believe that my parents did wonderful things for us.

I did go to Wellesley, a women's college. And I am of a kind of strange generation which is transitional in terms of women who wanted to go out and get jobs.

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.

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.

I think women are really good at making friends and not good at networking. Men are good at networking and not necessarily making friends. That's a gross generalization, but I think it holds in many ways.

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

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

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.

And so I think that the idea of America working with other countries to solve problems is good for us, and it is part of digging us out of the 'my way or the highway' approach that was evident in the previous eight years.

This is pure speculation, but for a period of time, a lot of getting into a party was through fundraising and volunteer work, and Republican women had more time to do that than democratic women, who were out there getting jobs.

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.

I loved what I did. I could've been secretary of state for ever.

I can't go out with a Republican.

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.

And so I have studied, I have to tell you, revolutions and uprisings for a long time. They are all slightly different, but what they all look for is some kind of a mechanism to go from an authoritarian system to an open, democratic system.

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.

The day-to-day making of policy is arguing all the time. You're trying to get the right approach and the right answer, and there are moments that aren't very pleasant. But in the end, you look at the overall product.

I think the personal relationships I established mattered in terms of what I was able to get done. And I did bring women's issues to the center of our foreign policy.

Most of the time I spend when I get up in the morning is trying to figure out what is going to happen.

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.

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.

There's Madeleine, and then there's 'Madeleine Albright'. And I sometimes kind of think, who is this person? Once you become 'Madeleine Albright' it doesn't go away.

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

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.

I have always thought of myself as a Czechoslovak Catholic.

My parents were of the generation who thought they were the children of a free Czechoslovakia, the only democracy in central Europe.

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

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.

People are finding it harder and harder to relate to foreign policy.

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

I hope I'm wrong, but I am afraid that Iraq is going to turn out to be the greatest disaster in American foreign policy - worse than Vietnam, not in the number who died, but in terms of its unintended consequences and its reverberation throughout the region.

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

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

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 am often asked if, when I was secretary, I had problems with foreign men. That is not who I had problems with, because I arrived in a very large plane that said United States of America. I had more problems with the men in our own government.

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.

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

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.

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.

I have been in meetings where a head of state will say, 'I like your tie,' to a man... or, 'I like your country because the weather's good,' or whatever. So for me, the pins in some ways were openers.

Nobody's ever said that pins are a tool of diplomacy.

I have to tell you, my seven-year-old granddaughter said to my daughter, her mother, 'So what's the big deal about Grandma Maddy having been Secretary of State? Only girls are Secretaries of State.' Most of her lifetime, it's true. But at the time it really was a big deal.

It's important that we invest in America - literally. The terrorists wanted to destroy our economy, and we can't let our system fall apart. We also have to invest in one another.

Hate, emotionalism, and frustration are not policies.

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

As strong as the United States is, we can't deal with terrorism alone.

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.

For somebody who loves foreign policy, being Secretary is the best job in the world - but it doesn't happen twice.

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