Hillary Rodham Clinton Quotes & Sayings

Along the way, I've tried not to make the same mistake twice, to learn, to adapt, and to pray for the wisdom to make better choices in the future. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Life is too short to dwell on what might have been. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Effective foreign policy has always involved the use of both sticks and carrots, and finding the right balance between the two is more art than science. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

I feel so relieved to be at the stage I'm at in my life right now, Jill, because if I want to wear my glasses, I'm wearing my glasses. If I want to pull my hair back, I'm pulling my hair back. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The basic fact of the drug war was that the cartels were fighting one another for the right to export narcotics to the United States. An estimated 90 percent of all the drugs used in America flowed through Mexico, and roughly 90 percent of the weapons used by the cartels came from the United States. (The ban on assault weapons that Bill signed in 1994 expired ten years later and was not renewed, opening the door to increased arms trafficking across the border.) It was hard to look at these facts and not conclude that America shared responsibility for helping Mexico stop the violence. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Football coaches meet midfield after a game, but they don't always hug — Hillary Rodham Clinton

A major goal of our strategy in Asia was to promote political reform as well as economic growth. We wanted to make the 21st century a time in which people across Asia become not only more prosperous but also more free. And more freedom would, I was confident, spur greater prosperity. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

When you stumble, keep faith. And when you're knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Fail to plan, plan to fail. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

I also learned that a person was not necessarily bad just because you did not agree with him, and that if you believed in something, you had better be prepared to defend it. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The episodic, reactive, almost frantic pace of what is broadcast makes children feel and act frantic and shortens their attention spans and their patience for activities that take time and problems that don't yield immediate solutions. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The more both sides follow the example of those intrepid early diplomats to bridge the gaps in understanding and interests, the better chance we will have of making progress. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

One thing we know for sure is that change is certain. Progress is not. Progress depends on the choices we make today for tomorrow and on whether we meet our challenges and protect our values. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

As Secretary of State I had the chance to make the world a little safer and life a little better for children in America and across the globe, including in China. I viewed it as the opportunity and the responsibility of a lifetime. That — Hillary Rodham Clinton

My first trip to China, in 1995, was among the most memorable of my life. The Fourth World Conference on Women, at which I declared, "Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights," was a profound experience for me. I felt the heavy hand of Chinese censorship when the government blocked the broadcast of my speech, both throughout the conference center and on official television and radio. Most — Hillary Rodham Clinton

We should remember that just as a positive outlook on life can promote good health, so can everyday acts of kindness. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

There is an old Burmese proverb: "When it rains, collect water. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

If we only stopped to listen to them for a few minutes, kids could tell us that we move too fast, for their good and ours. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

We both had wanted to see a Mark Rothko exhibit at the Yale Art Gallery but, because of a labor dispute, some of the university's buildings, including the museum, were closed. As Bill and I walked by, he decided he could get us in if we offered to pick up the litter that had accumulated in the gallery's courtyard. Watching him talk our way in was the first time I saw his persuasiveness in action. We had the entire museum to ourselves. We wandered through the galleries talking about Rothko and twentieth-century art. I admit to being surprised at his interest in and knowledge of subjects that seemed, at first, unusual for a Viking from Arkansas. We ended up in the museum's courtyard, where I sat in the large lap of Henry Moore's sculpture Drape Seated Woman while we talked until dark. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

It seemed hard to believe that human beings could be capable of such cruelty, and in the name of God. Sickened — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Knowing what to expect next gives children a sense of security. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

He reminded me to focus on the "trendlines," not just the headlines, and to relish the experiences. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

we are living in an interdependent world where what our children hear, see, feel, and learn will affect how they grow up and who they turn out to be. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Same-sex couples should have equal rights to full benefits both state and federal level. I support repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell because it hasn't worked and military should based on conduct not your sexual orientation — Hillary Rodham Clinton

I have met thousands and thousands of pro-choice men and women. I have never met anyone who is pro-abortion. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

One thing that has never been a hard choice for me is serving our country. It has been the greatest honor of my life. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Remembered what Dai Bingguo had said to me when he pulled out the photograph of his granddaughter: "This is what we're in it for." It — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Polls show that Americans significantly overestimate the percentage of the federal budget allocated to foreign aid. In November 2013, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that, on average, Americans believe that 28 percent of the federal budget is spent on foreign assistance, and more than 60 percent of people say that's too much. But in reality we spend less than 1 percent of the budget on foreign aid. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The very richest Americans - the top one-tenth of 1 percent - now have nearly as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Afterward Joe Biden greeted me outside the green room, falling on bent knee to kiss my hand. (Who says chivalry is dead!) — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The best missile defence system of all would be a just and lasting peace. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Way back in 1755 Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." With — Hillary Rodham Clinton

But diplomacy would be easy if we had to talk only to our friends. That's not how peace is made. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

In the bible it says you have to forgive seventy times seven. I want you all to know, I'm keeping a chart. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

For everyone here in Ohio and across America who's been ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out, for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up
this one is for you. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

First, we parents have to back up school authority and quit making excuses for our kids when they misbehave. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

It takes a village to raise a child. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Although we were not able to shatter that highest and hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it has 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time, and we are going to keep working to make it so, today keep with me and stand for me, we still have so much to do together, we made history, and lets make some more. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Bear this research in mind when you listen to those who argue that our nation cannot afford to implement comprehensive early education programs for disadvantaged children and their families. If we as a village decide not to help families develop their children's brains, then at least let us admit that we are acting not on the evidence but according to a different agenda. And let us acknowledge that we are not using all the tools at our disposal to better the lives of our children. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Mandela's speech denounced discrimination on the basis of race and gender, two profoundly embedded prejudices in Africa and most of the rest of the world. As we were leaving the ceremony, I saw the Rev. Jesse Jackson weeping with joy. He leaned over and said to me, Did you ever think any of us would live to see this day? — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Gay rights are human rights. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

One leader even joked, You should see what we say about you. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

There's a Girl Scouts song I learned in elementary school: Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other gold. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Had campaigned hard to the very end, but Barack had won and now it was time to support him. The causes and people I had campaigned for, the Americans who had lost jobs and health care, who couldn't afford gas or groceries or college, who had felt invisible to their government for the previous seven years, now depended on his becoming the forty-fourth President of the United States. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The only way to make a difference is to acquire power. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Della had recently remarried and promised my mother that she and her new husband — Hillary Rodham Clinton

In the years ahead we would have rough patches, but we were determined to get through them. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

There are eighteen-million cracks in the ceiling. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Near the end of my tenure, I recommended to President Obama that he take another look at our embargo. It wasn't achieving its goals, and it was holding back our broader agenda across Latin America. After twenty years of observing and dealing with the U.S.-Cuba relationship, I thought we should shift the onus onto the Castros to explain why they remained undemocratic and abusive. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

I believe that marriage is not just a bond but a sacred bond between a man and a woman ... I have had occasion in my life to defend marriage, to stand up for marriage, to believe in the hard work and challenge of marriage. So I [am] committed to the sanctity of marriage, or to the fundamental bedrock principle that exists between a man and a woman, going back into the mists of history as one of the founding, foundational institutions of history and humanity and civilization, and that its primary, principal role during those millennia has been the raising and socializing of children for the society into which they are to become adults. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

While we can and must work to reduce the danger, the only way to eliminate risk entirely is to retreat entirely and to accept the consequences of the void we leave behind. When America is absent, extremism takes root, our interests suffer, and our security at home is threatened. There are some who believe that is the better choice; I am not one of them.

Retreat is not the answer; it won't make the world a safer place, and it's just not in our country's DNA. When faced with setbacks and tragedies, Americans have always worked harder and smarter. We strive to learn from our mistakes and avoid repeating them. And we do not shrink from the challenges ahead. That is what we must continue to do. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hanssen, an FBI agent who spied for the Russians in the 1980s and '90s. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

I think if you can describe it, you may not fully be experiencing it because it is such a personal relationship. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Bhutto was the only celebrity I had ever stood behind a rope line to see. Chelsea and I were strolling around London during a holiday trip in the summer of 1989. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

You're on the right path. As you know, there will be hard choices and difficult obstacles to overcome," I said, "[but] this is an opportunity for you to leave an historic legacy for your country. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Home is a child's first and most important classroom. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Income and wealth inequality in America today has reached levels not seen since the 1920s. Corporate — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

What difference does it really make? — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Another argument I wanted to rebut was that democracy is a privilege belonging to wealthy countries and that developing economies need to put growth first and worry about democracy later. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

My husband is not the secretary of state, I am. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

When Putin was preparing to take back the presidency in Moscow, he published an essay in the fall of 2011 in a Russian newspaper announcing plans to regain lost influence among former Soviet republics and create "a powerful supra-national union capable of becoming a pole in the modern world." Putin said that this new Eurasian Union would "change the geopolitical and geo-economic configuration of the entire continent." Some dismissed these words as campaign bluster, but I thought they revealed Putin's true agenda, which was effectively to "re-Sovietize" Russia's periphery. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Fear is always with us, but we just don't have time for it. Not now. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

You Can't Keep Wild Animal In Your Back Yard And Expect It To Go only After Your Neighbor. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Because TPP negotiations are still ongoing, it makes sense to reserve judgment until we can evaluate the final proposed agreement. It — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Like it or not, women are always subject to criticism if they show too much feeling in public. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

It took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, it may take another Clinton to clean up after the second one — Hillary Rodham Clinton

We need to understand that there is no formula for how women should lead their lives. that is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her God-given potential. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

As much as I might have wanted to, I could never change my vote on Iraq. But I could try to help us learn the right lessons from that war and apply them to Afghanistan and other challenges where we had fundamental security interests. I was determined to do exactly that when facing future hard choices, with more experience, wisdom, skepticism, and humility. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Forward-thinking teachers and school administrators across the country are creating a whole range of alternatives to cookie-cutter teaching and evaluation methods, such as the use of student portfolios and exhibitions in addition to conventional exams to assess students' progress. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Let there be learning, even under the shade of trees. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Gay people are born into, and belong to, every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths. They are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes. And whether we know it or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Being gay is not a Western invention. It is a human reality. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The contradictions within Pakistan became still more apparent at my next event, a luncheon hosted in my honor by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and attended by several dozen accomplished women in Pakistan. It was like being rocketed forward several centuries in time. Among these women were academics and activists, as well as a pilot, a singer, a banker and a police deputy superintendent. They had their own ambitions and careers, and, of course, we were all guests of Pakistan's elected female leader. Benazir — Hillary Rodham Clinton

. . .standards are for: They establish what children should know, not how they are taught or measured. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The picture of Chelsea and me that flashed around the world showed a happy mother-daughter team perched on our pachyderm and watching a rare Asian rhino. Later, when we got back to Washington, James Carville remarked: "Don't you just love it? You spent two years trying to get people better health care and they tried to kill you. You and Chelsea rode an elephant, and they loved you! — Hillary Rodham Clinton

All of us face hard choices in our lives. Some face more than their share. We have to decide how to balance the demands of work and family. Caring for a sick child or an aging parent. Figuring out how to pay for college. Finding a good job, and what to do if you lose it. Whether to get married - or stay married. How to give our kids the opportunities they dream about and deserve. Life is about making such choices. Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become. For leaders and nations, they can mean the difference between war and peace, poverty and prosperity. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just change my hairstyle. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Women have always been the primary victims of war. Women lose their husbands, their fathers, their sons in combat. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Of all the thousands of gifts I received in my eight years in the White House, few were more welcome and needed than these twelve intangible gifts of discernment, peace, compassion, faith, fellowship, vision, forgiveness, grace, wisdom, love, joy and courage. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

As Secretary of State I thought of our choices and challenges in three categories: The problems we inherited, including two wars and a global financial crisis; the new, often unexpected events and emerging threats, from the shifting sands of the Middle East to the turbulent waters of the Pacific to the uncharted terrain of cyberspace; and the opportunities presented by an increasingly networked world that could help lay the foundation for — Hillary Rodham Clinton

It takes women to bring men to their senses — Hillary Rodham Clinton

It was another example of a phenomenon I call "the talking dog syndrome." Some people are still amazed that any woman (this includes Governors' wives, corporate CEOs, sports stars and rock singers) can hold her own under pressure and be articulate and knowledgeable. The dog can talk! — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The nomination of Richard Nixon cemented the ascendance of a conservative over a moderate ideology within the Republican Party, a dominance that has only grown more pronounced over the years as the party has continued its move to the right and moderates have dwindled in numbers and influence. I sometimes think that I didn't leave the Republican Party as much as it left me. I — Hillary Rodham Clinton

When you are in a common boat, cross the river peacefully together. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

What did you do with the time and talents i gave you? God's question ... — Hillary Rodham Clinton

In this world and the world of tomorrow, we must go forward together or not at all. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

While there are few problems in today's world that the United States can solve alone, there are even fewer that can be solved without the United States. Everything that I have done and seen has convinced me that America remains the indispensable nation. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

One reason I continue to oppose efforts to criminalize abortion is that I do not believe any government should have the power to dictate, through law or police action, a woman's most personal decisions."

"I consider that a slippery slope to state control of reproduction, and I'd witnessed the consequences of such control in China and Communist Romania. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

We just can't trust the American people to make those types of choices ... Government has to make those choices for people. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Our defense of universal human rights is one of America's greatest sources of strength. The image of Chen, blind and injured, seeking through that dangerous night for the one place he knew stood for freedom and opportunity - the embassy of the United States - reminds us of our responsibility to make sure our country remains the beacon for dissidents and dreamers all over the world. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Parenthood has the power to redefine every aspect of life - marriage, work, relationships with family and friends. Those helpless bundles of power and promise that come into our world show us our true selves- who we are, who we are not, who we wish we could be. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Every child needs a champion. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

This, I thought, is why Bill and I had worked so hard for so many years to help build a better world - so Chelsea could grow up safe and happy and one day have a family of her own, and so every other child would have the same chance. I — Hillary Rodham Clinton

The coldest peace is better than the warmest war. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

It was concern for the welfare of children that got me into public service in the first place. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

I'm often asked how I take the criticism directed my way. I have three answers: First, if you choose to be in public life, remember Eleanor Roosevelt's advice and grow skin as thick as a rhinoceros. Second, learn to take criticism seriously but not personally. Your critics can actually teach you lessons your friends can't or won't. I try to sort out the motivation for criticism, whether partisan, ideological, commercial, or sexist, analyze it to see what I might learn from it, and discard the rest. Third, there is a persistent double standard applied to women in politics - regarding clothes, body types, and of course hairstyles - that you can't let derail you. Smile and keep going. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

You can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors. You know, eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

Faith is like stepping off a cliff and expecting one of two outcomes- you will either land on solid ground or you will be taught to fly. — Hillary Rodham Clinton