I have to tell you, my seven-year-old granddaughter said to my daughter, her mother, 'So what's the big deal about Grandma Maddy having been Secretary of State? Only girls are Secretaries of State.' Most of her lifetime, it's true. But at the time it really was a big deal.

I think that the Middle East is the largest piece of unfinished business that we all have. I happen to believe in the democratization process.

I didn't want to set up a women's studies program. I thought women should learn to operate in a coeducational atmosphere, because, especially in national security and international affairs, it's male-dominated.

The magic of America is that we're a free and open society with a mixed population. Part of our security is our freedom.

There's Madeleine, and then there's 'Madeleine Albright'. And I sometimes kind of think, who is this person? Once you become 'Madeleine Albright' it doesn't go away.

Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing.

Even though there were three newspapers in Chicago at the time, he said 'you wouldn't want to compete with your husband," and so instead of doing what I might do now in that situation, I basically saluted and found other things to do.