Differences can be a strength.

If the strong exploit the weak, democracy will not be stable.

The most important lesson I think I could impart is don't let anyone determine what your horizons are going to be. You get to determine those yourself. The only limitations are whatever particular talents you happen to have and how hard you're willing to work. And if you let others define who you ought to be, or what you ought to be because they put you in a category, they see your race, they see your gender and they put you in a category. You shouldn't let that happen.

We needed to go back on the offense and offer clear leadership on Iraq.

The first step for a leader is to be right with yourself. Integrity is the basis of leadership.

To see an African-American elected president means that this country is really finally coming full circle from the birth defect of slavery.

I never much cared for politics. I love policy, and I love international policy in particular. I got to be Secretary of State; it really doesn't get much better than that. I love what I do. I love being a professor.