I had more problems with the men in our own government, and not because they were male chauvinistic pigs but because they had known me for so long. I might have been a carpool mother and a friend of their wife, and so they'd been to my house for dinner and things like and they thought 'how did she get to be secretary of state when I should be secretary of state?' So that was more of a problem.

Libraries are fun, educational, and the biggest bargain on the face of the earth.

I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life.

While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.

US is a very religious country. Separation of church and state is part of our credo, but that it is hard to understand since our money says "In God we trust" and every President says "God bless America".

In diplomacy, clear-cut wins and losses are rare.

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.