Top 237 Quotes & Sayings by Madeleine Albright

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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

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.

Hillary Clinton will always be there for you. And just remember - there's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other.

I believe that my parents did wonderful things for us.

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

The capability of negotiating... is something that means you not only have to understand fully what you believe and what your national interests are but in order to be a really good negotiator, you have to try to figure out what the other person on the other side of the table has in mind.

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.

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

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.

Hate, emotionalism, and frustration are not policies.

I spent my life studying communism and Soviet systems.

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

So people are talking about revolution. What a revolution it would be to have a woman president.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

When Hillary served as Secretary of State, I watched her partner with President Obama to restore our country's reputation around the world.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Take it from someone who fled the Iron Curtain: I know what happens when you give the Russians a green light.

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.

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

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

NATO has been a thread throughout my life.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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

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

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

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 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.