Condoleezza Rice Quotes

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

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

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

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

In America, with education and hard work, it really does not matter where you came from; it matters only where you are going.

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

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.

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

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

Differences can be a strength.

[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.

Every life is capable of greatness.

When are we going to stop making excuses for the terrorists and saying that somebody is making them do it? No, these are simply evil people who want to kill.

I didn't run for student council president. I don't see myself in any way in elected office. I love policy. I'm not particularly fond of politics.

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

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.

Race is a constant factor in American life. Yet reacting to every incident,real or imagined, is crippling, tiring, and ultimately counterproductive.

Your passion may be hard to spot, so keep an open mind and keep searching.

You have to have a strong sense of your values and a strong sense of who you are, because there are a lot of events and a lot of people who will pull you in this direction or that direction.

Power is nothing unless you can turn it into influence.

It is a dangerous thing to ask why someone else has been given more. It is humbling - and indeed healthy - to ask why you have been given so much.

Most days are not overwhelmingly successful in your life. And what really marks whether you're going to be successful is how well you deal with the bad days, not how well you deal with the good ones.

If you cannot allow people to do their jobs ... nobody with substance and creativity will work for you.

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.

Every life is worthy and every life is capable of greatness. We have an obligation to make sure that opportunity for greatness is there.

You can never ask others to do something you would not do. That is integrity.

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.

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

People may oppose you, but when they realize you can hurt them, they'll join your side.

We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.

I firmly believe you never should spend your time being the former anything.

You cannot be on one hand dedicated to peace and on the other dedicated to violence. Those two things are irreconcilable.

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.

Human beings are not perfect. Their institutions are not perfect, but they have to keep trying. And America has to help people keep trying.

Leading in a complex world means recognizing the simple things you can do to make things better.

This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can threaten its neighbors, occupy a capital, overthrow a government, and get away with it. Things have changed.

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.

Differences can be strength rather than a handicap.

Everyone wants Russia to be a prosperous, democratic state that is fully integrated.

Out of struggle very often comes victory.

I was born in segregated Birmingham, Alabama. I didn't have a white classmate till we moved to Denver.

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.

Separation of powers is a problem for foreign policy.

I hope that all of us who were fortunate enough to have benefited will put our time, our resources and our efforts into making sure that kids, particularly kids without means, have a way to achieve.

This is the democratic process at work, What you're seeing with this process is the Iraqi people embracing American-style democracy.

...if you are overdressed, it is a comment on them. If you are under dressed, it is a comment on you.

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.

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

Every good leader is part manager and every good manager is part leader.

I think America is still a bright, shining city on the hill - not because we're perfect but because we struggle in our imperfections every day.