"I never should have made it. It was stupid."

Madeleine Albright Politics See all quotes by Madeleine Albright →

React to this quote

More by Madeleine Albright

“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.”

“The victor of the war in Iraq is Iran.”

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

“There is a significant moral difference between a person who commits a violent crime and a person who tries to cross a border illegally in order to put food on the family table. Such migrants may violate our laws against illicit entry, but if that's all they do then they are trespassers, not criminals. They deserve to have their dignity respected.”

“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.”

“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”

Resonant Thoughts

"Men are born free, that since they begin with no government, they must therefore institute government by voluntary agreement, and thus government must be their agent, not their superior. Since volitio…"

— Isabel Paterson

Literature1886–1961

#power

"Literary translation may be considered as rivalry between two languages which vie to express the original idea better. It should be faithful to the original at least, and beautiful at best. A literary…"

— Xu Yuanchong

Education1921–2021

#happiness

"Allow me, excellent Lucilius, to utter a still bolder word: if any goods could be greater than others, I should prefer those which seem harsh to those which are mild and alluring, and should pronounce…"

— Seneca the Younger

Philosophy-4–65

#courage

"But when she curbed the freedom of press during the emergency, I withdrew my support. Indira Gandhi had the habit of snubbing whoever opposed her. She was waiting for a chance to snub me. I never gave…"

— Khushwant Singh

Politics1915–2014

#freedom