Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright is an American politician and diplomat. She is the first woman to have become the United States Secretary of State. She was nominated by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0. She was sworn in on January 23, 1997...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth15 May 1937
CitySmichov, Czech Republic
CountryUnited States of America
You think that the heads of state only have serious conversations, but they actually often begin really with the weather or, 'I really like your tie.'
So there really was a whole series of things that took the women of my generation a little bit of time to push forward.
I got married, I really waited a long time - three days after I graduated.
The bottom line is, the more we have a cadre of women moving up the scale, and it doesn't seem threatening, and people realize that women actually work much harder than men, and realize that they need more women in these jobs, I think that goes away.
I don't actually believe in a clash of civilizations. I believe in a clash of the civilized and the noncivilized.
What distinguishes Americans from many people in the world is our kind of endemic optimism.
The other thing that happened was that we have a tendency to project our own weaknesses onto another woman. I don't think men do that particularly.
I really do think about the fact that every day counts. I believe that every individual counts, and so I believe that every day counts and I try not to waste it.
US is a very religious country. Separation of church and state is part of our credo, but that it is hard to understand since our money says "In God we trust" and every President says "God bless America".
When somebody is flying airplanes into buildings and killing innocent people in the name of God, it makes you question why do they have that interpretation and somebody else has another interpretation, and how many people of Muslim faith would agree with that, and what are the different aspects of different people's religions that is so divisive, rather than being unifying?
There are a lot of similar aspects in all the religions. The question is which side of it you hold up.
I think there has to be the sense that once you have climbed the ladder of success, that you don't push it away from the building.
Women are more than 50% of almost every country in the world. Countries rob themselves of the resources of women if they keep them as property. It isn't that women can't find work. It's just that women don't get paid for their work and are not recognized properly. It's something that has to be on the international agenda all the time.
I don't think people should think of women's issues as auxiliary issues - they are central.