Susan Rice Quotes

The Russians are clearly already engaged in a proxy war against the government of Ukraine. And that is something that we and the rest of the world have actively condemned and sanctioned Russia already heavily for, particularly the United States, as we have imposed now meaningful, tough sanctions in critical sectors, including the defense sector, the financial sector, and the energy sector.

President Obama is an extraordinary person to work with and for.

South Africa's increasingly, for example, the largest foreign investor in various other parts of Africa.

I read a ton of paper every day. I read the newspapers, I read my intelligence materials, I read all the briefing materials. I read the newspaper in hard copy.

Be who you are. If you spend all of your time worrying about how people view you, you will not be either faithful to yourself or effective in what you're trying to do.

I have great ambitions for when I get out of government. I will watch a broader range of stuff.

I think most Americans understand that we went through a period in which American leadership was judged quite critically internationally.

What I learned is that policymakers have to force consideration of actions that may not have occurred to them at the time.

Peace, prosperity, and democracy cannot endure if imposed from the outside. We should cease to make false distinctions between peacekeeping and prevention; they are in fact inextricably linked.

It's not the day in which I grew up, long time ago, where we had three news networks. No cable, no social media, no internet. Where what you see is what you got. We had basically straight journalism. We don't have that anymore.

The youth thing never really, from my vantage point, slowed me down. I think the harder audience for me to gain acceptance from was the career diplomatic corps that worked with and for me in the Africa Bureau.

The United States share of the African market it's very small, it's only about 8 percent.

I spend every day up at the United Nations where I have to interact with 192 other countries. I know how well the United States is viewed.

Change doesn't happen with people sitting on their behinds, getting lazy.

The U.S. cannot go it alone simply when it is convenient.

I was very happy in my job at the United Nations.

One of the things I love about negotiations is that you have to be able to play it like an orchestra, different instruments for different circumstances. There's sweetness, and encouragement, and cajoling. There's pressure, there's drama, there's ultimatums.

What I would say about me is: What you see is what I get.

I have to separate my personal concerns from my professional responsibilities.

What we have done is when the threat has been directed at the United States, i.e., the terrorist threat from ISIL or Al-Qaeda in Syria, is to go after them.

Legislation that would withhold funding for the United Nations is fundamentally flawed in concept and practice, sets us back, is self-defeating, and doesn't work.

I have a range, and I'd much rather do things the nice way than the hard way, but sometimes you have to use all the tools at your disposal.

It's in our interest to continue with the Paris Agreement and to deal with climate change as the real threat it actually is.

I think it's very, very important that in foreign policy and national security decision making, as in any other realm, that there be a range of diversity that reflects the full complexity of America. We should draw on those experiences to inform our decision making.

The kids are Job One. So, to be quite candid, if they need me, I do my utmost to make sure I'm there.

I'm apologetic when I feel like I've made a mistake. And when I have done a disservice to myself or someone else. But I don't feel a need to apologize for doing or saying something that I think needs to be said, just because it may not sit comfortably with somebody else.

We are safer if there are not nuclear arsenals around the planet that can be utilized, stolen, sold to terrorists and others who would do harm.

I'm not watching any TV shows, frankly.

We have been very clear that Israel has an undeniable right to self-defense and that the rockets that it has faced coming out of Gaza incessantly, the tunnels that are legion and are being used to infiltrate into Israel are very legitimate security concerns, for which they have an obligation - against which they have an obligation to act.

It may not be what you would've chosen, but we all have a responsibility to be active citizens and shape our system and our future.

When my son was a mere three months old, I started working at the State Department. I was not only the youngest Assistant Secretary of State but I was also a breastfeeding mother. I'm the first to admit that this felt crazy at times, and the balancing act is never ever easy. But my two kids are the most wonderful things that have ever happened to me.

You can't sit on the sidelines and read your iPhone and be on social media and expect everything to be cool. You have to be part of this.

There was a hateful video that was disseminated on the Internet. It had nothing to do with the United States government, and it's one that we find disgusting and reprehensible. It's been offensive to many, many people around the world. That sparked violence in various parts of the world, including violence directed against Western facilities including our embassies and consulates.

If you're trying to get something done, there will always be people who don't want to see you get something done, or who have a stake in the status quo. And if they approach that through ad hominem criticism of you, you've got to have enough confidence and thickness of skin to be able to endure.

I don't get drunk, I get a little happy on rare occasion, and I'm probably dancing if I'm that happy.

We must be honest in acknowledging that neither Germany nor the US has the luxury of assuming that we can skate by on half-measures in Afghanistan and Pakistan and not risk suffering the consequences.

I am straight forward; I am not manipulative; I am not two-faced. And I think that that has served me well in all of my roles, particularly as a diplomat, because people knew if I said something, I meant it. If I said no, I meant no, and if I said we could make this work, we would make it work.

I was conscious of the fact that it could be to my disadvantage to marry a white guy - that some folks would hold that against me.

In this day and age, the U.S. and Europe do not have the luxury of focusing solely on a single region.

Iran's arms exports to the murderous Assad regime in Syria are of particular concern. As the Panel of Experts has concluded, Syria is now the central party to illicit Iranian arms transfers.

We also have begun to assess with the Ukrainians the scope of their larger security assistance requirements. We have had teams out making that assessment with the Ukrainians. And we have already provided various forms of equipment and support to Ukraine.

I was working with a number of African heads of state. And after their initial surprise, I think many of them just treated me as they would anybody else. They had to deal with me as a representative of the United States of America, and the United States of America was too important to be dismissed or ignored on any grounds.

I have been to Libya and walked the streets of Benghazi myself.

I am blunt sometimes; I am diplomatic sometimes; I am all things in between. Abrasive, you know, I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.

Focus on something that stirs your soul, it's hard to excel at anything that you don't love.

Once you've learned to study in a bathing suit on the grass with muscled men throwing frisbees over your head, you can accomplish almost anything.

President Obama is perhaps the smartest person I've ever worked with.

Progress is the product of human agency. Things get better because we make them better. Things go wrong when we get too comfortable, when we fail to take risks or seize opportunities.