One of the things I write about a bit in my Madam Secretary memoir is on Rwanda, where I was an instructed ambassador at the U.N., and my instructions were to not vote for increased forces there, and I didn't like my instructions. So I got up and called Washington and said, "Change my instructions," and they didn't.

Madeleine Albright

Categorized in : Writing Vote Ambassadors

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

Madeleine Albright

strong-women independent-women business

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

inspiring motivational inspirational

Whatever the job you are asked to do at whatever level, do a good job because your reputation is your resume.

Madeleine Albright

levels army jobs

If there's nobody in your way, you're not going anywhere.

Madeleine Albright

ifs way

Embrace the faith that every challenge surmounted by your energy; every problem solved by your wisdom; every soul stirred by your passion; and every barrier to justice brought down by your determination will ennoble your life, inspire others, serve your country, and explode outward the boundaries of what is achievable on this earth.

Madeleine Albright

passion determination country

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.

Madeleine Albright

men rooms world

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

Madeleine Albright

economic-sanctions war thinking

The reason I made women's issues central to American foreign policy, was not because I was a feminist, but because we know that societies are more stable if women are politically and economically empowered.

Madeleine Albright

issues feminist reason

If intelligence were a television set, it would be an early black-and-white model with poor reception, so that much of the picture was gray and the figures on the screen were snowy and indistinct. You could fiddle with the knobs all you wanted, but unless you were careful, what you would see often depended more on what you expected or hoped to see than on what was really there.

Madeleine Albright

intelligence black-and-white expectations

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.

Madeleine Albright

running school thinking

As you go along your own road in life, you will, if you aim high enough, also meet resistance... But no matter how tough the opposition may seem, have courage still and persevere.

Madeleine Albright

persistence success inspirational

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.

Madeleine Albright

successful order believe

You [young people] all are just much more internationally-minded and traveled and knowledgeable in languages than any other previous generation. So many of you are already doing a lot of international relations, I think. I so believe in student networks, and people that either study abroad or come to the United States to study, and the relationships that you all develop. You learn a lot from each other, but you all will see each other again in jobs along the way. And I think that makes a big difference. I so believe in what students can do.

Madeleine Albright

jobs believe thinking

Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing.

Madeleine Albright

real graduation inspirational

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

Madeleine Albright

patriotic magic america

We live in an image society. Speeches are not what anybody cares about; what they care about is the picture.

Madeleine Albright

speech care

To put it mildly, the world is a mess.

Madeleine Albright

mess world

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.

Madeleine Albright

democracy fighting people

There is a significant moral difference between a person who commits a violent crime and a person who tries to cross a border illegally in order to put food on the family table. Such migrants my violate our laws against illicit entry, but if that's all they do they are trespassers, not criminals. They deserve to have their dignity respected.

Madeleine Albright

differences law order

We must be authors of the history of our age.

Madeleine Albright

diversity educational age