Madeleine Albright quotes

Madeleine Albright was an American diplomat and the first female U.S. Secretary of State. Her leadership helped shape American foreign policy in the late 20th century. She became a powerful advocate for democracy, human rights, and international cooperation. Here are 121 of her quotes:

There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women.

Madeleine Albright

I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life.

Madeleine Albright

When we're trying to solve difficult national issues its sometimes necessary to talk to adversaries as well as friends. Historians have a word for this: diplomacy.

Madeleine Albright

What people have the capacity to choose, they have the ability to change.

Madeleine Albright

The victor of the war in Iraq is Iran.

Madeleine Albright

My deepest regret from my years in public service is the failure of the United States and the international community to act sooner to halt these crimes.

Madeleine Albright

What's the point of having this superb military that you're always talking about if we can't use it?

Madeleine Albright

Mahmoud Abbas is a puppet.

Madeleine Albright

Armageddon is not a foreign policy.

Madeleine Albright

I'm a critic. I think the administration has really undermined America's power and reputation and that Iraq may go down in history as the greatest disaster in American foreign policy, which means that I think it's worse than Vietnam in its unintended consequences and for our reputation. This president, because his administration is imposing democracy, which is an oxymoron, has, I think, hurt the concept. It is not just that the administration has been unilateral but that it has been unidimensional. It has paid attention primarily to one part of the world, without enough attention being paid to other parts.

Madeleine Albright

I think this is a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it.

Madeleine Albright

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

Madeleine Albright

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.

Madeleine Albright

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

Madeleine Albright

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.

Madeleine Albright

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.

Madeleine Albright

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.

Madeleine Albright

What really troubles me is that democracy is getting a bad name because it is identified with imposition and occupation. I'm for democracy, but imposing democracy is an oxymoron. People have to choose democracy, and it has to come up from below.

Madeleine Albright

It is the threat of the use of force [against Iraq] and our line-up there that is going to put force behind the diplomacy. But if we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future, and we see the danger here to all of us.

Madeleine Albright

Get out, you disgusting Serbs!

Madeleine Albright

I'm not a person who thinks the world would be entirely different if it was run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten what high school was like.

Madeleine Albright

Little effort was made to explain Saddam's culpability, his misuse of Iraqi resources, or the fact that we were not embargoing medicine or food. I was exasperated that our TV was showing what amounted to Iraqi propaganda...I must have been crazy; I should have answered the question by reframing it and pointing out the inherent flaws in the premise behind it. Saddam Hussein could have prevented any child from suffering simply by meeting his obligations. Instead, I said the following: 'I think this is a very hard choice, but the price, we think, the price is worth it.' As soon as I had spoken, I wished for the power to freeze time and take back those words. My reply had been a terrible mistake, hasty, clumsy, and wrong. Nothing matters more than the lives of innocent people. I had fallen into a trap and said something that I simply did not mean. That is no one's fault but my own.

Madeleine Albright