Madeleine Albright
And frankly, I don't understand - I mean, I'm obviously a card-carrying Democrat - but I can't understand why any woman would want to vote for Mitt Romney, except maybe Mrs. Romney.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.'
Well, the thing that I learned as a diplomat is that human relations ultimately make a huge difference.
I think that we all know what evil is. We have a sense of what's evil, and certainly killing innocent people is evil. We're less sure about what is good. There's sort of good, good enough, could be better - but absolute good is a little harder to define.
Nobody's ever said that pins are a tool of diplomacy.
Iraq is a long way from the U.S., but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.
The difference between humans and other mammals is that we know how to accessorize.
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.
The U.N. bureaucracy has grown to elephantine proportions. Now that the Cold War is over, we are asking that elephant to do gymnastics.
Life is grim, and we don't have to be grim all the time.
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 think the personal relationships I established mattered in terms of what I was able to get done. And I did bring women's issues to the center of our foreign policy.
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.
I spent my life studying communism and Soviet systems.
To be safe at the expense of the liberty of other people is a difficult equation.
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.
This is pure speculation, but for a period of time, a lot of getting into a party was through fundraising and volunteer work, and Republican women had more time to do that than democratic women, who were out there getting jobs.
I've never been to New Zealand before. But one of my role models, Xena, the warrior princess, comes from there.
I can't imagine what it is like to be raised in a society where their only statues that exist are to you and your father.
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.
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.
Hate, emotionalism, and frustration are not policies.
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.
The best book, like the best speech, will do it all - make us laugh, think, cry and cheer - preferably in that order.
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.
Take it from someone who fled the Iron Curtain: I know what happens when you give the Russians a green light.
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.
For me, America is really, truly the indispensable nation.
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.
I enjoy wearing pins, and nobody tells me to do it.
As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.
My mind-set is Munich. Most of my generation's is Vietnam.
To understand Europe, you have to be a genius - or French.
Saddam's goal is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed.
My parents were of the generation who thought they were the children of a free Czechoslovakia, the only democracy in central Europe.
The greatest thrill in my life was to represent the United States of America.
NATO has been a thread throughout my life.
I've never seen America as an imperialist or colonialist or meddling country.
So people are talking about revolution. What a revolution it would be to have a woman president.
I did go to Wellesley, a women's college. And I am of a kind of strange generation which is transitional in terms of women who wanted to go out and get jobs.
I'm a problem-solver.
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 was in Europe and it was at this stage that I fell in love with Americans in uniform. And I continue to have that love affair.