I am the only high-ranking U.S. official to ever meet with Kim Jong-il, and we are the same height and both wear high heels.

As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.

What distinguishes Americans from many people in the world is our kind of endemic optimism.

Don't make me into this airy-fairy, moralist, idealist because I'm not.

I loved being Secretary of State, that's probably evident to everyone who watched me.

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

After the Cold War, to rally the American people to understand that we had to be a part of solutions. It's one thing to say that we have to run everything, it's another to say we don't want anything to do with it.