Top 100 Madeleine Albright Quotes (2025 Update)

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

— Madeleine Albright

Featured in: Inspirational Quotes for Women, Sisterhood Quotes

2. “I’m a problem-solver.”

— Madeleine Albright

Featured in: Problem-Solving Quotes

3. “It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.”

— Madeleine Albright

Featured in: Strong Women Quotes

4. “Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing.”

— Madeleine Albright

5. “What people have the capacity to choose, they have the ability to change.”

— Madeleine Albright

6. “I do not believe that things happen accidentally; I believe you earn them.”

— Madeleine Albright

7. “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.”

— Madeleine Albright

8. “To put it mildly, the world is a mess.”

— Madeleine Albright

9. “I do believe that in order to be a successful negotiator that as a diplomat, you have to be able to put yourself into the other person’s shoes. Unless you can understand what is motivating them, you are never going to be able to figure out how to solve a particular problem.”

— Madeleine Albright

10. “Whatever the job you are asked to do at whatever level, do a good job because your reputation is your resume.”

— Madeleine Albright

11. “If there’s nobody in your way, you’re not going anywhere.”

— Madeleine Albright

12. “Leaders are made by the situations they are involved in. I think that some rise to the occasion and some do not.”

— Madeleine Albright

13. “I am by nature a worried optimist...”

— Madeleine Albright

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

— Madeleine Albright

15. “I have very set and consistent principles, but I am flexible on tactics. I like to get the job done.”

— Madeleine Albright

16. “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.”

— Madeleine Albright

17. “What’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about, if we can’t use it?”

— Madeleine Albright

18. “We have a responsibility in our time, as others have had in theirs, not to be prisoners of history but to shape history, a responsibility to fill the role of path-finder, and to build with others a global network of purpose and law.”

— Madeleine Albright

19. “Libraries are fun, educational, and the biggest bargain on the face of the earth.”

— Madeleine Albright

Featured in: Fun Quotes

20. “We must help women in every society to have their voices heard.”

— Madeleine Albright

21. “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.”

— Madeleine Albright

22. “Glass ceilings have been broken, but more have to be broken.”

— Madeleine Albright

23. “Our collective experience has shown that when women have the power to make their own choices, good things happen.”

— Madeleine Albright

24. “The process of education in the oldest profession in the world is like any other educational process, in that it requires time andeffort and patience; it can only be acquired by taking one step at a time, though the steps become accelerated after the first few.”

— Madeleine Albright

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

25. “Our life comes in segments, and we have to understand that we can have it all if we’re not trying to do it all at once.”

— Madeleine Albright

26. “To understand Europe, you have to be a genius – or French.”

— Madeleine Albright

27. “The difference between humans and other mammals is that we know how to accessorize.”

— Madeleine Albright

28. “I have had fun being who I became, so to speak.”

— Madeleine Albright

Featured in: Fun Quotes

29. “I can’t go out with a Republican.”

— Madeleine Albright

30. “Most of the time I spend when I get up in the morning is trying to figure out what is going to happen.”

— Madeleine Albright

31. “We have the most generous immigration policy, but what is a concern is when illegal immigrants come and undermine a variety of the systems that work in order to make our society function.”

— Madeleine Albright

32. “Only in America could a refugee girl from Central Europe become secretary of state.”

— Madeleine Albright

33. “The main thing is to remain oneself, under any circumstances; that was and is our common purpose.”

— Madeleine Albright

34. “I’ve never been to New Zealand before. But one of my role models, Xena, the warrior princess, comes from there.”

— Madeleine Albright

35. “Life is grim, and we don’t have to be grim all the time.”

— Madeleine Albright

36. “As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.”

— Madeleine Albright

37. “It’s one thing to be religious, but it’s another thing to make religion your policy.”

— Madeleine Albright

38. “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.”

— Madeleine Albright

39. “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.”

— Madeleine Albright

40. “I get up every morning and I’m grateful for everything that has happened. I go through my list about being grateful for my children and grandchildren, and for the really remarkable life that I have been able to have.”

— Madeleine Albright

41. “I’m for democracy, but imposing democracy is an oxymoron. People have to choose democracy, and it has to come up from below.”

— Madeleine Albright

42. “Jewelry and pins have been worn throughout history as symbols of power, sending messages. Interestingly enough, it was mostly men who wore the jewelry in various times, and obviously crowns were part of signals that were being sent throughout history by people of rank.”

— Madeleine Albright

43. “Well, the thing that I learned as a diplomat is that human relations ultimately make a huge difference.”

— Madeleine Albright

44. “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.”

— Madeleine Albright

45. “The reason I made women’s issues central to American foreign policy, was not because I was a feminist, but because we know that societies are more stable if women are politically and economically empowered.”

— Madeleine Albright

46. “Democracy cannot be built on revenge and you will not have the support of the world if you are intolerant and take the law into your own hands.”

— Madeleine Albright

47. “A great task has been completed and an even larger one remains.”

— Madeleine Albright

48. “For me, America is really, truly the indispensable nation.”

— Madeleine Albright

49. “I was a little girl in World War II and I’m used to being freed by Americans.”

— Madeleine Albright

50. “We have to understand where we have strategic relationships that require us to take a different approach. I guess the easiest way to describe it is: different strokes for different folks.”

— Madeleine Albright