Madeleine Albright Quotes

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

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 have always thought of myself as a Czechoslovak Catholic.

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.

For me, being raised in a free America made all the difference.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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

I’m a problem-solver.

I loved being Secretary of State, that’s probably evident to everyone who watched me.

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.

The greatest thrill in my life was to represent the United States of America.

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

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.

NATO has been a thread throughout my life.

Really, I have to laugh because there was a whole set of stories that made me sound like the Dragon Lady, you know, ‚tough this and tough that.‘ Then there is this business about ‚gooey.‘ The bottom line is I am a pragmatic idealist.

I wasn’t a normal professor. I had worked in government. I hadn’t written nine zillion books. I was a hands-on professor.

I saw what happened when a dictator was allowed to take over a piece of a country and the country went down the tubes. And I saw the opposite during the war when America joined the fight.

I am such a political person.

Don’t make me into this airy-fairy, moralist, idealist because I’m not.

I have always seen the United States as a force of good. And I have learned that there is the idealistic part about what we can do at the U.N. and there is a doable part. And I have learned what is more doable.

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.

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.

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

When Hillary served in the Senate, I saw her work day and night as a member of the Armed Services Committee – working with Republicans and Democrats to keep our military strong and protect our troops and their families.

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

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

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.‘

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

When Hillary was First Lady, we went to the Beijing Women’s Conference. She courageously stood up and spoke out on behalf of human rights and women’s rights, inspiring millions to fight for a better future.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.