Quotes by Hillary Clinton

"If a country doesn't recognize minority rights and human rights, including women's rights, you will not have the kind of stability and prosperity that is possible."

"I was in civil society long before I was ever in politics or my husband was ever even elected president."

"In every country today, there is politics. It may be authoritarian politics, but there is politics."

"It is a fact that around the world the elites of every country are making money."

"One of my goals upon becoming Secretary of State was to take diplomacy out of capitals, out of government offices, into the media, into the streets of countries."

"Every nation has to either be with us, or against us. Those who harbor terrorists, or who finance them, are going to pay a price."

"The challenges of change are always hard. It is important that we begin to unpack those challenges that confront this nation and realize that we each have a role that requires us to change and become more responsible for shaping our own future."

"The challenge is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible."

"The United States strongly condemns the illegal disclosure of classified information. It puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security, and undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems."

"I'm one of these very focused people when it comes to day-to-day work, and I'm trying not to think about what comes next so that I can stay very focused on what I'm doing now."

"The first lesson I've learned is that no matter what you do in your life, you have to figure out your own internal rhythms - I mean, what works for you doesn't necessarily work for your friend."

"I learned some valuable lessons about the legislative process, the importance of bipartisan cooperation and the wisdom of taking small steps to get a big job done."

"Whether a woman's running for office or she's supporting her husband who's running for office and she gets criticised for wearing open-toed shoes or for the colour of her coat, there's just a lot of history that you bear if you are a woman who puts herself out in the political arena."

"I don't think we should be about the business of denying voters in Michigan and Florida the right to be heard."

"In almost every profession - whether it's law or journalism, finance or medicine or academia or running a small business - people rely on confidential communications to do their jobs. We count on the space of trust that confidentiality provides. When someone breaches that trust, we are all worse off for it."

"On some campuses, change is effected through nonviolent or even violent means."

"Dynamism is a function of change."

"I'm one of those people who thinks that changing one's hair is the only part of the body that you can change at will."

"Often times when you face such an overwhelming challenge as global climate change, it can be somewhat daunting - it's kind of like trying to lose weight, which I know something about."

"In too many instances, the march to globalization has also meant the marginalization of women and girls. And that must change."

"If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just change my hairstyle."

"Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights."

"At the end of the day, you know, love does not happen between two perfect people as much as we would wish."

"Many of you are well enough off that the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

"The worst thing that can happen in a democracy - as well as in an individual's life - is to become cynical about the future and lose hope."

"I'm undaunted in my quest to amuse myself by constantly changing my hair."

"Going out and playing football or baseball with the boys, when I was a tomboy, was a great way to learn about winning and losing, and most girls didn't have that experience."

"I fought all my life for women to make their own choices, in their personal and professional lives. I made mine."

"I mean, honestly, we have to be clear that the life for many Afghan women is not that much different than it was a hundred years ago, 200 years ago. The country has lived with so much violence and conflict that many people, men and women, just want it to be over."

"I am someone who hopes for the best and prepares for the worst."

"I feel like I have had the most amazing life in my public service."

"I am shocked at how much time I spend in the White House. I mean, you know, for people on the outside, the idea of going to the White House for a meeting must seem like the most important, serious, even glamorous kind of thing to do."

"We know in New York we have several million at any one time who are in New York illegally."

"We have a close, unshakable bond between the United States and Israel, and between the American and Israeli people. We share common values and a commitment to a democratic future for the world, and we are both committed to a two-state solution. But that doesn't mean that we're going to agree."

"My wish for the new millennium is for all children... to grow up wiser, and stronger and more prosperous for the future than ever before."

"Every marriage is a mystery to me, even the one I'm in. So I'm no expert on it."

"Well I think in a marriage you have to be honest and ask yourself, you know, what is my role? What is my responsibility?"

"In the aftermath of September 11, and as the 9/11 Commission report so aptly demonstrates, it is clear that our intelligence system is not working the way that it should."

"We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society."

"There is a sense that things, if you keep positive and optimistic about what can be done, do work out."

"We don't have enough support for maternal leave and the kinds of things that some of the European countries do. So we still make it hard on women to go into the work force and feel that they can be good at work but then doing the most important job, which is raising your children in a responsible and positive way."

"Now I know that Wal-Mart's policies do not reflect the best way of doing business and the values that I think are important in America."

"We can't go to people who have lost their job at GM and say, 'Oh, by the way, we are going to pay money to build a road here or inoculate children there,' unless we can demonstrate that it is in America's interest. I happen to think it is."

"Now, I know there are many Americans who say, 'Get out of Afghanistan. Bring 'em all home.' And there are others who say, 'Put in hundreds of thousands of more.'"

"I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas."

"I always supported the women I worked with having time off to go to parent-teacher conferences and doctors' appointments or bringing their infants into the office."

"I feel very lucky because of my parents and then my education, the opportunities that I've had, so I would like to continue working to improve lives for others."

"There are 4 billion cell phones in use today. Many of them are in the hands of market vendors, rickshaw drivers, and others who've historically lacked access to education and opportunity. Information networks have become a great leveler, and we should use them together to help lift people out of poverty and give them a freedom from want."

"I, for one, respect those who believe with all their hearts and conscience that there are no circumstances under which any abortion should ever be available."

"The nuclear arsenal that Pakistan has, I believe is secure. I think the government and the military have taken adequate steps to protect that."

"I believe that the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century."

"My two secrets to staying healthy: wash your hands all the time. And, if you can't, use Purell or one of the sanitizers. And the other is hot peppers. I eat a lot of hot peppers. I for some reason started doing that in 1992, and I swear by it."

"I think that you can disagree with people and debate over their positions with issues without engaging in the politics of personal destruction."

"I think we have to face the reality that in a society where there is a legitimate threat of terrorism, not being able to see one's face, not being able to have some sense of communication in that way, is for many societies a challenge."

"I believe in delegating power."

"Well, I think, by definition, all power has limits."

"'Smart power' is the use of American power in ways that would help prevent and resolve conflict - not just send our military in."

"Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world."

"I want to teach. I want to speak. I want to travel."

"No nation can meet the world's challenges alone."

"The truth is that sometimes it is hard even for me to recognize the Hillary Clinton that other people see."

"I don't think feminism, as I understand the definition, implies the rejection of maternal values, nurturing children, caring about the men in your life. That is just nonsense to me."

"I am neither frustrated nor planning anything other than being the best Secretary of State I could be."

"A psychologist once told me that for a boy being in the middle of a conflict between two women is the worst possible situation. There's always a desire to please each one."

"Sometimes overturning brutal regimes takes time and costs lives. I wish it weren't so. I really, really do."

"I've had extraordinary good luck with my health, other than a broken elbow."

"You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health. And reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion."

"It is past time for women to take their rightful place, side by side with men, in the rooms where the fates of peoples, where their children's and grandchildren's fates, are decided."

"As I speak to you today, government censors somewhere are working furiously to erase my words from the records of history. But history itself has already condemned these tactics."

"It is often when night looks darkest, it is often before the fever breaks that one senses the gathering momentum for change, when one feels that resurrection of hope in the midst of despair and apathy."

"There is no doubt that America remains the premier political, economic, military power in the world, and I both expect and count on it remaining so, because I think that's certainly in our best interest but also the best interests of the world."

"Wealthy women have rights in every country. And poor women don't."

"You know, people make a lot of money talking about me, don't they?"

"The need for peace in Northern Ireland goes well beyond political stability. It now speaks to regional Europe and even global stability."

"Egypt has been a partner of the United States over the last 30 years, has been instrumental in keeping the peace in the Middle East between Egypt and Israel, which is a critical accomplishment that has meant so much to so many people."

"Let's not leave an educational vacuum to be filled by religious extremists who go to families who have no other option and offer meals, housing and some form of education. If we are going to combat extremism then we must educate those very same children."

"No matter what you think about the Iraq war, there is one thing we can all agree on for the next days - we have to salute the courage and bravery of those who are risking their lives to vote and those brave Iraqi and American soldiers fighting to protect their right to vote."

"I have not supported same-sex marriage. I have supported civil partnerships and contractual relationships."

"In my family, we were Americans, we were Republicans and we were Methodists."

"You feel sometimes when you hear analysts and knowledgeable people talking about Iran that they fear so much about the survival of the regime, because deep down it's not a legitimate regime, it doesn't represent the will of the people, it's kind of morphed into kind of a military theocracy."

"Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize, and debate openly."

"I try to read for pleasure whenever I can - it's a great way just to shut it off for a while so your brain doesn't get fried."

"You don't walk away if you love someone. You help the person."

"This is a moment in history where it is almost hard to catch your breath."

"In nearly every religion I am aware of, there is a variation of the golden rule. And even for the non-religious, it is a tenet of people who believe in humanistic principles."

"Both the American people and nations that censor the internet should understand that our government is committed to helping promote internet freedom."