Madeleine Albright

“While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.”

“It is the threat of the use of force [against Iraq] and our line-up there that is going to put force behind the diplomacy. But if we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future, and we see the danger here to all of us.”

“Our nation's memory is long and our reach is far.”

“Maybe if everybody in leadership was a woman, you might not get into the conflicts in the first place. But if you watch the women who have made it to the top, they haven't exactly been non-aggressive - including me.”

“I think this is a very hard choice, but the price — we think the price is worth it.”

“My deepest regret from my years in public service is the failure of the United States and the international community to act sooner to halt these crimes.”

“I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life”

“Mahmoud Abbas is a puppet.”

“I never should have made it. It was stupid.”

“What really troubles me is that democracy is getting a bad name because it is identified with imposition and occupation. I'm for democracy, but imposing democracy is an oxymoron. People have to choose democracy, and it has to come up from below.”

“There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women.”

“I'm not a person who thinks the world would be entirely different if it was run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten what high school was like.”

“The victor of the war in Iraq is Iran.”

“Armageddon is not a foreign policy.”

“When we're trying to solve difficult national issues its sometimes necessary to talk to adversaries as well as friends. Historians have a word for this: diplomacy.”

“There is a significant moral difference between a person who commits a violent crime and a person who tries to cross a border illegally in order to put food on the family table. Such migrants may violate our laws against illicit entry, but if that's all they do then they are trespassers, not criminals. They deserve to have their dignity respected.”

“No matter what message you are about to deliver somewhere, whether it is holding out a hand of friendship, or making clear that you disapprove of something, is the fact that the person sitting across the table is a human being, so the goal is to always establish common ground.”

“I have said this many times, that there seems to be enough room in the world for mediocre men, but not for mediocre women, and we really have to work very, very hard.”

“I hope I'm wrong, but I am afraid that Iraq is going to turn out to be the greatest disaster in American foreign policy - worse than Vietnam, not in the number who died, but in terms of its unintended consequences and its reverberation throughout the region.”

“If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.”

“We will not be intimidated or pushed off the world stage by people who do not like what we stand for, and that is, freedom, democracy and the fight against disease, poverty and terrorism.”

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

“But I do not believe that the world would be entirely different if there were more women leaders. Maybe if everybody in leadership was a woman, you might not get into the conflicts in the first place. But if you watch the women who have made it to the top, they haven't exactly been non-aggressive - including me.”