Quotes By Madeleine Albright

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

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.

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

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 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.

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

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

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

I have always thought of myself as a Czechoslovak Catholic.

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

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

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

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.

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.

I can't go out with a Republican.

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.

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

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

I believe that my parents did wonderful things for us.

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.

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

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.

For me, America is really, truly the indispensable nation.

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

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.

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.'

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

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