I think most Americans understand that we went through a period in which American leadership was judged quite critically internationally.Collection: Leadership
As Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak have repeatedly said, the intelligence and security relationship between the United States and Israel at present is unprecedented. It has never been stronger.Collection: Intelligence
I spend every day up at the United Nations where I have to interact with 192 other countries. I know how well the United States is viewed.
We are safer if there are not nuclear arsenals around the planet that can be utilized, stolen, sold to terrorists and others who would do harm.
Americans understand that our security is enhanced when the United States is trusted and respected in the world.
For the United States to recommit itself to the obligation that we undertook in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that many other states undertook, which was to work towards disarmament and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons, is something that manifestly serves our national security interests.
I am a team player - and that is what you need to be an effective point guard. You gotta see the court, you gotta set up the play, and you gotta let others execute for the most part. I don't throw elbows for the sake of throwing elbows, but if somebody throws one at me and it's necessary to respond in kind, I suppose I can if I have to.
I was conscious of the fact that it could be to my disadvantage to marry a white guy - that some folks would hold that against me.
In this day and age, the U.S. and Europe do not have the luxury of focusing solely on a single region.
If we are to garner sustained U.S. domestic support for future trade agreements, we have to make sure those Americans who have suffered as a consequence of past agreements have an effective social safety net, adjustment assistance, opportunities for retraining and new job creation that enables all Americans to thrive.
The kids are Job One. So, to be quite candid, if they need me, I do my utmost to make sure I'm there.
Our bottom line, if you want to call it a red line, president's bottom line has been that Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon and we will take no option off the table to ensure that it does not acquire a nuclear weapon, including the military option.
We must be honest in acknowledging that neither Germany nor the U.S. has the luxury of assuming that we can skate by on half-measures in Afghanistan and Pakistan and not risk suffering the consequences.
Legislation that would withhold funding for the United Nations is fundamentally flawed in concept and practice, sets us back, is self-defeating, and doesn't work.
Well, I think by any expectation South Africa has come a tremendously long way. We've seen a society that many people thought couldn't withstand a peaceful transition to democracy without a great deal of violence, in fact, make that transition and do it in relative peace and security.
South Africa's increasingly, for example, the largest foreign investor in various other parts of Africa.
The larger picture here is that a North Korea with nuclear weapons adds to the larger proliferation risk.
What I learned is that policymakers have to force consideration of actions that may not have occurred to them at the time.
Well, Nigeria has played a constructive role in peacekeeping in various parts of West Africa. But unless and until Nigeria itself is democratic and respects human rights, it too may well be a source of much greater instability as political repression limits the ability of the people of Nigeria to achieve their full potential.
There was a hateful video that was disseminated on the internet. It had nothing to do with the United States government and it's one that we find disgusting and reprehensible. It's been offensive to many, many people around the world.
We've seen violent responses to 'Satanic Verses.' We've seen violent responses to the cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in an evil way.
Progress is the product of human agency. Things get better because we make them better. Things go wrong when we get too comfortable, when we fail to take risks or seize opportunities.Collection: Opportunity
If you want change, you have to make it. If we want progress we have to drive it.Collection: Change
Be who you are. If you spend all of your time worrying about how people view you, you will not be either faithful to yourself or effective in what you're trying to do.Collection: Views
Focus on something that stirs your soul, it's hard to excel at anything that you don't love.Collection: Focus
I think one of the real issues that we're faced with is how we consume news, how the media is perceived, how fake news is gaining a degree of currency without criticism that is dangerous, in my judgement.Collection: Real
Once you've learned to study in a bathing suit on the grass with muscled men throwing frisbees over your head, you can accomplish almost anything.Collection: Men
People are consuming the news that is comfortable for them, not necessarily the news that is real or that they need to know.Collection: Real
We have to know who we are and know what we believe.Collection: Believe
President Obama is perhaps the smartest person I've ever worked with.Collection: President
I'm apologetic when I feel like I've made a mistake. And when I have done a disservice to myself or someone else. But I don't feel a need to apologize for doing or saying something that I think needs to be said, just because it may not sit comfortably with somebody else.Collection: Mistake
I like to think that with me, what you see is what you get, and you can like or dislike it, it's up to you, but it's straight. That's something that I pride myself on.Collection: Pride
There are plenty of meetings, receptions, dinners, and so if you are [at the U.N.] any length of time, and I was there for four and a half years, you formed pretty significant relationships with people from all over the world. And that's important to the work you do. If you're trying to rally the General Assembly to vote for something that matters to the United States, those personal relationships count.Collection: Years
One of the things I love about negotiations is that you have to be able to play it like an orchestra, different instruments for different circumstances. There's sweetness, and encouragement, and cajoling. There's pressure, there's drama, there's ultimatums.Collection: Encouragement
You can't sit on the sidelines and read your iPhone and be on social media and expect everything to be cool. You have to be part of this.Collection: Iphone
We should learn to tolerate nuclear weapons of North Korea just like we did the Soviet Union.Collection: North Korea
I am straight forward; I am not manipulative; I am not two-faced. And I think that that has served me well in all of my roles, particularly as a diplomat, because people knew if I said something, I meant it. If I said no, I meant no, and if I said we could make this work, we would make it work.Collection: Thinking
I don't worry about how folks want to characterize me.Collection: Worry
I have to separate my personal concerns from my professional responsibilities.Collection: Responsibility
I read a ton of paper every day. I read the newspapers, I read my intelligence materials, I read all the briefing materials. I read the newspaper in hard copy.Collection: Paper