Condoleezza Rice famous quotes

Differences can be a strength.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Differences

My favorite quote is Thomas Jefferson`s "The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time." Well, he was a slave-owner. But these institutions, while they weren't perfect at the time, did allow people to prosper and to continue to struggle and build toward them. That's what you need, is good institutions and I think people will eventually live up to them.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Struggle #Thinking #People

Great leaders never accept the world as it was and always work for the world as it should be
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Leader #World #Accepting

The pursuit by the Iranian regime of nuclear weapons represents a direct threat to the entire international community, including to the United States and to the Persian Gulf region.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Community #United States #Nuclear

The essence of America - that which really unites us - is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion - it is an idea - and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Humble #Ethnicity #Essence

We're not going to negotiate about the terms of terrorism. You don't negotiate about terrorism. It's is wrong to engage in terrorism, and there isn't anything to negotiate.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Terrorism #Term

You will make a difference in the world, but not immediately. Your first obligation is to find something you like doing, because if you like doing it, you'll do it well.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Differences #Making A Difference #World

You might not be able to control your circumstances but you can control your response to your circumstances.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Might #Able #Circumstances

So I think, if September 11 taught us anything, it taught us that we're vulnerable, and vulnerable in ways that we didn't fully understand.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Thinking #September 11 #Way

[In] the United States, we've always been held together by the belief that it doesn't matter where you came from. It matters where you're going.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Together #United States #Matter

When somebody underestimated me, it made me want to prove them wrong.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Want #Prove Them Wrong #Made

My job is to try to advance American foreign policy, to try to advance the president's agenda on democracy and human rights.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Jobs #Rights #Democracy

Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same. If you are too attentive to the former, you will most certainly not do the hard work of securing the latter.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Hard Work #Today #Judgment

Everybody in the world is capable of democratic development. Some people in the world are unlucky enough to get stuck with really bad political leadership and with really bad political institutions.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#People #Political #Development

Prejudice and bigotry are brought down...by the sheer force of determination of individuals to succeed and the refusal of a human being to let prejudice define the parameters of the possible.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Determination #Succeed #Prejudice

What you know today can affect what you do tomorrow, but not what you did yesterday.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Yesterday #Today #Tomorrow

Life is full of surprises and and serendipity. Being open to unexpected turns in the road is an important part of success. If you try to plan every step, you may miss those wonderful twists and turns. Just find your next adventure-do it well, enjoy it-and then, not now, think about what comes next.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Adventure #Loving Life #Thinking

What we will not wait for is that particular nexus of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction that is extremism, and the technology to come together in a way that is harmful to the United States.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Technology #Waiting #Together

Education is of no value and talent is worthless - unless you have an unwavering aim. Never find yourself without a compass.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Basketball #Finding Yourself #Talent

When people see the terrible scenes of violence on television, when we mourn the death of each and every American man and woman in uniform or a civilian that's killed, that it's hard to see the progress that's being made and it's hard to believe that this is all going to come out for the better.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Believe #Men #People

We're in a new world. We're in a world in which the possibility of terrorism, married up with technology, could make us very, very sorry that we didn't act.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Sorry #Technology #World

We're in the middle of the transformation of a society that has handled its politics through repression to a society that will handle its politics through democratic institutions.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Transformation #Middle #Institutions

As I was telling my husb— As I was telling President Bush.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#President #President Bush

The United States government does not authorise or condone torture of detainees. Torture, and conspiracy to commit torture, are crimes under US law, wherever they may occur in the world.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Law #Government #World

We need to move beyond the idea that girls can be leaders and create the expectation that they should be leaders.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Girl #Powerful #Moving

My Fox guys, I love every single one of them.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Guy #Foxes

I think that the United States has always been most effective when it is leading both from power and principle.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Thinking #Principles #United States

Self esteem comes from achievements. Not from lax standards and false praise.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Self Esteem #Achievement #Black

Iran can and should be a responsible state, not the leading state sponsor of terror.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Iran #Responsible #States

Differences can be strength rather than a handicap.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Life #Differences #Handicaps

There are many other arrows in our diplomatic quiver.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Arrows #Quiver #Diplomatic

If you are taught bitterness and anger, then you will believe you are a victim. You will feel aggrieved and the twin brother of aggrievment is entitlement. So now you think you are owed something and you don't have to work for it and now you're on a really bad road to nowhere because there are people who will play to that sense of victimhood, aggreivement and entitlement, and you still won't have a job.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Brother #Jobs #Believe

The Iranian people have a proud past. They merit a great future.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Past #People #Proud

I'm saying there is no way that I will do this, because it's really not me. I know my strengths, and governor Romney needs to find someone who wants to run with him. There are many people who will do it very, very well, and I'll support the ticket.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Running #People #Support

We [The United States] believe the Iranian people want a future of freedom and human rights: the right to vote, to run for office, to express their views without fear and to pursue political causes. We would welcome the progress, prosperity and freedom of the Iranian people.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Running #Believe #Rights

The first step for a leader is to be right with yourself. Integrity is the basis of leadership.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Integrity #Leader #Firsts

If I can look at your zip code and I can tell whether you're going to get a good education, we've got a real problem.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Real #Looks #Zips

I'm very glad my mother didn't let me quit piano lessons at age 10. She said I wasn't old enough or good enough to make that decision, and she was right. I remember at the time I was shocked. I did not like that my mother said those things to me. But when I got a chance to play with Yo-Yo Ma or more recently with Aretha Franklin, I thought, I'm really glad she said what she did.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Success #Mother #Play

The United States is willing to exert strong leadership to give diplomacy its very best chance to succeed.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Strong #Giving #United States

Every life is capable of greatness.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Greatness #Life Is #Capable

I'm a committed Republican. I believe very strongly in individual liberty. I tend not to think much in terms of group politics. I really am a kind of small government person and I'm most certainly a fiscal conservative and strong on national defense.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Strong #Believe #Thinking

We are at war, and our security as a nation depends on winning that war.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#War #Winning #Security

When you're in government, of course, you have protection and you have people who are looking out for your wellbeing, but you can't live in a state of fear. If you do, you're not going to do your job very well and you're going to give yourself high blood pressure, which probably isn't worth it.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Jobs #Government #Blood

I find that the great majority of public servants across the entire political spectrum come because they believe in the United States and they want to change the world.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Believe #Political #Majority

There is nothing better than being in a classroom with really, really brilliant students, and opening up new worlds to them. That's what I love doing.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Opening Up #World #Students

There's no greater challenge and there is no greater honor than to be in public service.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#Challenges #Honor #Public Service

Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It's not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but, if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#New York #Airplane #Thinking

I'm a huge proponent of exchanges, student exchanges, cultural exchanges, university exchanges. We talk a lot about public diplomacy, .. It's extremely important that we get our message out, but it's also the case that we should not have a monologue with other people. It has to be a conversation, and you can't do that without exchanges and openness.
-- Condoleezza Rice

#People #Important #Messages