My saving grace was that I always knew when to leave the party.

I came from a background where I was very poor growing up but I have never known poverty. My parents worked hard and they went to bed hungry, but they fed us. Then my father became an ambassador, so I ended up being driven by chauffeurs. And then we became refugees. After that, I looked at it through this "glass" of to have and have not, and at the end of the day, who actually helps, who actually steps up, who is there for you.

That to be an activist, you have to stay active. For me, it's profound; it's not something you choose to do every five years because it's chic to say it.

The relationship I have with Bethann [Hardison], it's so unique. It's based on trust. But most importantly, Bethann is the one who will call on me if I'm doing something wrong. That's a very specific relationship.

The one thing my mother instilled in me, well both my parents but specifically my mother - I come from a Muslim country where boys were more wanted than girls so she always made me feel that there is nothing that I couldn't do as well as the boys if not better.

For me, diversity whether you think of it as race or gender, it's not a trend, it's a human movement, it's a human feeling, it's a human desire.

The commitment to give of yourself and the knowledge that the time is right are what's important. The thing is, I suppose, a younger person may not correctly divine the right time, because of lack of life experience, so the older woman may have the advantage of truly knowing if it's right or not.