I loved what I did. I could've been secretary of state for ever.

There are an awful lot of things going on that need understanding and explanation, but - to put it mildly - the world is a mess.

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

NATO has been a thread throughout my life.

So there really was a whole series of things that took the women of my generation a little bit of time to push forward.

You can't just think that you will get a job for no good reason... And I think that the other part is you have to work your way up, you know I did a lot of Xeroxing and getting coffee...I always did what I was asked to do. I delivered. People knew that I would get things done and get them done well. And that is a big part of our resumes, are based on being responsible and being willing to do what needed to be done.

I think the hardest part [is] the priorities. There are an awful lot of things to do [being Secretary of State].