As secretary of state it's been an enormous honor to represent this great country that I love so much - I have really seen that our great strengths are in the ability of people to reach their potential here.

But I want to just caution, it is not incumbent on the United States to prove that Saddam Hussein is trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. He's already demonstrated that he's trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

You are American, whether you profess Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, whether you adhere to Islam, or whether you believe in nothing at all. And you're as American as anybody else, whatever your religious beliefs. But try not to get caught up in media stereotypes of your neighbors and of your country. Think about people that you know and how they treat you. As you get to know someone, it matters not what religious background they have, or what their nationality is, or where they came from. And I think that's how Americans really do relate to each other on a personal level.

[My favorite dish to cook] is fried chicken, and by the way I'm good at it, too. I make really good fried chicken.

Self esteem comes from achievements. Not from lax standards and false praise.

I think our dependence on foreign oil is a real problem, potential Achilles heel, and we have to do something about it.

Unless we improve our ability to provide a quality education for underprivileged kids, we're not going to really overcome in a massive way our past.