Secretary of State quotes

Browse a collection of inspiring and insightful quotes from Secretaries of State, past and present, on diplomacy, leadership, and global affairs.

The very definition of tyranny is when all powers are gathered under one place.

- James Madison

The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority's ability to harm a minority.

- James Madison

If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

- James Madison

If our nation is ever taken over, it will be taken over from within.

- James Madison

If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?

- James Madison

Good conscience is the most valuable asset of all!

- James Madison

Disarm the people – that is the best and most effective way to enslave them.

- James Madison

Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.

- James Madison

The second, sober thought of the people is seldom wrong, and always efficient.

- Martin Van Buren

It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't.

- Martin Van Buren

Life is full of surprises and and serendipity. Being open to unexpected turns in the road is an important part of success. If you try to plan every step, you may miss those wonderful twists and turns. Just find your next adventure-do it well, enjoy it-and then, not now, think about what comes next.

- Condoleezza Rice

Because primarily of the power of the Internet, people of modest means can band together and amass vast sums of money that can change the world for some public good if they all agree.

- William J. Clinton

The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.

- James Madison

We must advertise to U.S. business that we are there, that our attitude has changed, and that we care. When we are asked to help, we have to perform and provide the right advice.

- Lawrence Eagleburger

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

- Colin Powell

The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general prosperity.

- Martin Van Buren

Too often we think we can act without explaining and take decisions without justifying them.

- Peter Mandelson

I was born in Harlem, raised in the South Bronx, went to public school, got out of public college, went into the Army, and then I just stuck with it.

- Colin Powell

Any fact that needs to be disclosed should be put out now or as quickly as possible, because otherwise the bleeding will not end.

- Henry A. Kissinger

We will continue to work together in our common fight against terror.

- Condoleezza Rice

No one will ever win the battle of the sexes; there's too much fraternizing with the enemy.

- Henry A. Kissinger

Small- and medium-sized companies do not know what we have to offer and that needs to be changed. We must react just as strenuously on their behalf as we do for larger companies.

- Lawrence Eagleburger

Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.

- James Madison

But I deny that the Constitution recognizes property in man.

- William H. Seward

The working out of a balanced economy throughout Germany to provide the necessary means to pay for approved imports has not been accomplished, although that too is expressly required by the Potsdam Agreement.

- James F. Byrnes

There are plenty of problems in the world, many of them interconnected. But there is no problem which compares with this central, universal problem of saving the human race from extinction.

- John Foster Dulles

A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best most natural defense of a free country.

- James Madison

You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president.

- William J. Clinton

Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.

- William J. Clinton

Many of you are well enough off that the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.

- Hillary Clinton