Hillary Rodham Clinton Quotes

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

When people feel left out, left behind, and left without options, the deep void will be filled by anger and resentment or depression and despair about those who supposedly took away their livelihood or cut in line.
Trump brilliantly tapped into all these feelings. ~ 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

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

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

When I said, "You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables," I was talking about well-documented reality. ... But too many of Trump's core supporters do hold views that I find - there's no other word for it - deplorable. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

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

Too many women
in too many countries
speak the same language,
of silence ... ~ 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

Snakes. It's always snakes. Those terrible, not arm having snakes. I hate snakes. A lot. Snakes are garbage. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

Sexism is all the big and little ways that society draws a box around women and says, 'You stay in there. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

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

What did you do with the time and talents i gave you? God's question ... ~ 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

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

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

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

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

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

Let there be learning, even under the shade of trees. ~ 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

What difference does it really make? ~ 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 only way to make a difference is to acquire power. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

[On Hillary Rodham Clinton:] She always looks so adorable, and she's intrepid; she's the biggest bargain America ever got, bigger than that Louisiana Purchase from my French friends. ~ Jackie Kennedy

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

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is now facing a kind of personal dilemma. She can't decide whether to drop the name Clinton from her name, or drop the name Rodham. They can't figure out which one is more embarrassing. ~ Jay Leno

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

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

The truth is, everyone's flawed. That's the nature of human beings. But our mistakes alone shouldn't define us. We should be judged by the totality of our work and life. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

Bhutto acknowledged the difficulties faced by women who were breaking with tradition and taking leading roles in public life. She deftly managed to refer both to the challenges I had encountered during my White House tenure and to her own situation. "Women who take on tough issues and stake out new territory are often on the receiving end of ignorance," she concluded. In a private meeting with the Prime Minister, we talked about her upcoming visit to Washington in April, and I spent time with her husband and their children. Because I had heard that their marriage was arranged, I found their interaction particularly interesting. ~ 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

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

He reminded me to focus on the "trendlines," not just the headlines, and to relish the experiences. ~ 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

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

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

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

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

When people start believing that all politicians are liars and crooks, the truly corrupt escape scrutiny, and cynicism grows. ~ 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

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

[Belva] Lockwood sought more than suffrage. She urged full political and civil rights for all women. Though she could not vote for president, she twice ran for the office herself, pointing out that nothing in the Constitution barred a woman's candidacy. (She took that bold step 124 years before Hillary Rodham Clinton first became a contender for the Democratic Party's nomination.) Explaining why she entered the race, she wrote in a letter to her future running mate, Marietta Stow: 'We shall never have equal rights until we take them, nor equal respect until we command it. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

The Democratic Leadership Council has named Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to design a plan to help define an agenda to the Democratic party. Although Bill said today, in his experience, whenever Hillary enters the picture that's when the party ends ~ Jay Leno

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

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

Since the Justice Department refuses to allow you to render a verdict, I'm going to present the case now, on the facts, against Hillary Rodham Clinton. ~ Chris Christie

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

The coldest peace is better than the warmest war. ~ 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

Hillary Rodham Clinton will bring a permanent darkness of deceit and despair forced upon the American people to endure. ~ Wayne LaPierre

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

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

We are, all of us, exploring a world none of us understands ... searching for a more immediate, ecstatic, and penetrating mode of living ... for the integrity, the courage to be whole, living in relation to one another in the full poetry of existence. The struggle for an integrated life existing in an atmosphere of communal trust and respect is one with desperately important political and social consequences ... Fear is always with us, but we just don't have time for it.
-Commencement Speech, Wellesley 1969 ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

Picking the midpoint between two sides, no matter how extreme one of them is, isn't balanced. It's false equivalence. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

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

Rumors become the story du jour. And while our past experiences may have seemed like ancient history to us, every detail of our lives was being sifted and combed as if we were some sort of archaeological dig. ~ 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

I have a weakness for Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers and was delighted to find out that 55 goldfish were only 150 calories - not bad! One time, Liz brought something I hadn't tried before: Flavor Blasted Goldfish. We passed around the bag and discussed whether it was better than the original. Some of my staff thought yes, which was incorrect. ~ 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

Hillary Rodham Clinton was America's chief diplomat. So let's look around at the violence and danger in our world today in every region of the world that has been infected with her flawed judgment. ~ Chris Christie

Probably my worst quality is that I get very passionate about what I think is right. ~ 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

I had known Mubarak and his wife, Suzanne, for nearly twenty years. He was a career Air Force officer who had risen through the ranks to become Vice President under Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian ruler who fought the Yom Kippur War with Israel in 1973 and later signed the Camp David Accords. Mubarak was injured in the extremist attack that assassinated Sadat in 1981, but he survived, became President, and cracked down hard on Islamists and other dissidents. He ruled Egypt like a pharaoh with nearly absolute power for the next three decades. ~ 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

Our politics have become paralyzed and sometimes poisonous. Instead of protecting Americans' fundamental right to vote, the Supreme Court has protected corporations' right to buy elections. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

Every moment wasted looking back, keeps us from moving forward. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

It hurts to be torn apart. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

As a former federal prosecutor, I welcome the opportunity to hold Hillary Rodham Clinton accountable for her performance and her character. ~ Chris Christie

Joan of Arc said a lot of interesting things before they burned her at the stake. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

In times of profound and overwhelming social change like the present, however, extreme views hold out the appeal of simplicity. By ignoring the complexity of the forces that shape our personal and collective circumstances, they offer us scapegoats. Yet they fail to provide a viable pathway from the cold war to the global village. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

Our strength, in other words, has rested in our determination to reject simplistic absolutes and to redefine and revitalize a productive middle ground, relinquishing outdated solutions and embracing new approaches. As President Lincoln said in his time, 'The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. ~ 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

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

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

Someone sent me a Facebook post that summed up the dynamic in which we were caught:
BERNIE: I think America should get a pony.
HILLARY: How will you pay for the pony? Where will the pony come from? How will you get Congress to agree to the pony?
BERNIE: Hillary thinks America doesn't deserve a pony.
BERNIE SUPPORTERS: Hillary hates ponies!
HILLARY: Actually, I love ponies.
BERNIE SUPPORTERS: She changed her position on ponies! #whichhillary #witchhillary
HEADLINE: 'Hillary Refuses to Give Every American a Pony"
DEBATE MODERATOR: Hillary, how do you feel when people say you lie about ponies?
WEBSITE HEADLINE: 'Congressional Inquiry into Clinton's Pony Lies'
TWITTER TRENDING: #ponygate ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

When you are in a common boat, cross the river peacefully together. ~ 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

Anti-government rhetoric appears to offer a vision of greater efficiency, self-reliance, and personal freedom. (For obvious reasons, it also usually enjoys greater financial backing and better organized support.) Unfortunately, this rhetoric ignores what has historically been most valuable about our skepticism toward government - the emphasis it places on personal responsibility from all citizens. Instead, it argues against the excesses of government but not against those of the marketplace, where there is great power to disrupt the lives of workers, families, and communities. It even argues against the basic protections government extends to the well-being of individuals, families, and communities, without offering an alternative way of safeguarding them. In fact, its extreme case against government, often including intense personal attacks on government officials and political leaders, is designed not just to restrain government but to advance narrow religious, political, and economic agendas. ~ 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

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

Life is too short to dwell on what might have been. ~ 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

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

Fail to plan, plan to fail. ~ 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

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

When your President asks you to serve, you should say yes. ~ 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

One leader even joked, You should see what we say about you. ~ 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

Learn to take criticism seriously but not personally. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

Every child needs a champion. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

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

I'm sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we're Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

I suspect unconscious bias has been far more of a factor for President Obama than overt racism and will also be a challenge for Hillary Rodham Clinton if she runs for president again. ~ Nicholas Kristof

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

For me, smart power meant choosing the right combination of tools - diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural - for each situation. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton