Quotes from Condoleezza Rice

I've found that in places where women have not really been afforded full rights yet - for instance, in the Middle East - even very conservative politicians in the region will say, 'You know, my daughter would really like to meet you,' or, 'Would you send a note to my granddaughter?'

After all, when the world looks to America, they look to us because we are the most successful political and economic experiment in human history.

I will never forget the bright September day, standing at my desk in the White House, when my young assistant said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center - and then a second one - and a third, the Pentagon.

The U.S. has since the end of World War II had an answer - we stand for free peoples and free markets, we are willing to support and defend them - we will sustain a balance of power that favors freedom.

We can have a new vision, one even greater than the system they gave us after World War II. Everyone can pursue happiness and freedom and peace.

I don't think anybody can take the word of Saddam Hussein and his regime, and certainly an American president and allies who are obligated to worry about the safety and security of our countries, cannot take the word of this dictator, who lies, pathologically lies.

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.

Our policies toward Iraq simply are to protect the region and to protect Iraq's people and neighbors.

I wish someone had put a golf club in my hands, not skates on my feet. It is a really great game for business. It's a great game for making connections.

I love sports. I play golf now, which is relatively new for me. I only took it up about five years ago. I also like playing piano, and I love being with my family and friends.

What you know today can affect what you do tomorrow. But what you know today cannot affect what you did yesterday.

Frankly, as secretary of state, if somebody treats you badly because you're a woman, it's your fault - not theirs.

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

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 love to watch football.I actually really love to watch almost any competition with a score at the end.

I stick to playing Brahms, but I love listening to Led Zeppelin, and I've also been a big fan of Earth Wind and Fire since the Seventies and of The Gap Band since the Eighties.

I'm a very happy university professor... the best thing about being a university professor is that you see young people as they're being shaped and molded toward their own future, and you have a chance to be a part of that.

I'm quite content to spend my life helping young people find themselves. I've had my fill of politics.

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

People want to psychoanalyze me, but the fact is, I'm not that complicated. I'm pretty straightforward. And I'm not all that self-reflective, because I tend to be a doer.

Multiethnic character of America is very attractive to people. They also see a place where you get ahead, not because of where you came from, but because of where you want to go.

I find that the great majority of public servants across the entire political spectrum come because they believe in the United States and they want to change the world.

If I'd been a better long-term planner, I'd still be in music, as a musician someplace. So I'll take it one step at a time.