Well I do think, when there are more women, that the tone of the conversation changes, and also the goals of the conversation change. But it doesn't mean that the whole world would be a lot better if it were totally run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten high school.

The best book, like the best speech, will do it all - make us laugh, think, cry and cheer - preferably in that order.

In A Man With a Pipe, my brother observed that although my father had been seen as intellectual and my mother more a creature of temperament, she had often been the more levelheaded of the two. In sum, we miss them as we love them, equally and always.

I was struck by the joy of those pilots in committing coldblooded murder . . . Frankly, this is not cojones. This is cowardice.

A skilled diplomat rarely generates extreme reactions.

China is in its own category - too big to ignore, too repressive to embrace, difficult to influence, and very, very proud.

No matter how hard we might wish, we will not be able to transform China's behavior overnight.