Madeleine Albright Quotes
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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.
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The magic of America is that we're a free and open society with a mixed population. Part of our security is our freedom.
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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.
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The best book, like the best speech, will do it all - make us laugh, think, cry and cheer - preferably in that order.
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The interesting part is, that being the United States Secretary of State, most places I went didn't have a problem with me being a woman, because I was representing the United States.
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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.
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My parents were of the generation who thought they were the children of a free Czechoslovakia, the only democracy in central Europe.
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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.
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I think that we had a different view of what the 21st century could be like, with much more of a sense, from our perspective, of trying to have an interdependent world: looking at solving regional conflicts, having strength in alliances, operating within some kind of a sense that we were part of the international community and not outside of it.
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I've never been to New Zealand before. But one of my role models, Xena, the warrior princess, comes from there.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Bill Clinton valued my opinion and always made sure that my views were heard, and people knew that he wanted me to talk.
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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.
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To be safe at the expense of the liberty of other people is a difficult equation.
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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.
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I was struck by the joy of those pilots in committing coldblooded murder . . . Frankly, this is not cojones. This is cowardice.
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It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.
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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.
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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.
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I have certain issues. I support women candidates, but I cannot support a woman that I don't believe in. I would prefer to vote for a man who believes in choice than a woman who is pro-life. We have to be able to make distinctions and not look as though we are not feminist enough if we don't support every woman. We need to have that kind of a choice.
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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.
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To understand Europe, you have to be a genius - or French.