Madam Secretary Quotes

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.

When everything seems to be lacking integrity, you find it in yourself.

We need heroes who'll inspire us so that maybe next time we'll dig a little deeper and find our best self.

I do have to prioritize my end-of-the-world documents.

Maybe the best way for you to get us to summon our better selves is for you to show us yours.

Churchill once said that meeting Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne, and that knowing him was like drinking it.

They grew up thinking that all conflict is injustice.

We need to forgive the adolescent versions of ourselves, if only because we need the practice to forgive those who are maturing awkwardly in our lives.

Lawyers are lubricants are complicated social intercourse.

Clay pulled Lucas along and as they were approaching the back door, he called, “Madam Secretary . . . I need you to meet this guy.” She stopped and turned and looked at Lucas and then Clay, did a quick price check on Lucas’s suit, and asked, “How do you do?

Back at home, I caught up on TV shows Bill had been saving. We raced through old episodes of The Good Wife, Madam Secretary, Blue Bloods, and NCIS: Los Angeles, which Bill insists is the best of the franchise. I also finally saw the last season of Downton Abbey.

Protests can sometimes, necessarily, simplify things.

(Chief of Staff) Russell (Jackson) hits the trust reset button every morning.

You can LOBBY anyone. It is the great equalizer." – Chief of Staff Russell Jackson

If we don’t keep chasing the future, we’ll think too much about the past.

Fortunately for Frank, he still did have two perfectly good legs. Eleonor's. And it was Eleanor, as a literal stand-in for her husband, who led the convention in chants and cheers.

He was a shameless political animal, happy to let underlings execute plans, take credit for them if they succeeded, or pretend he had nothing to do with them if they flopped.

My family built this country with muddy hands and a spark of madness.

[When I was hired, I was urged] not to seek a clear definition of what I’d be doing because that would also make it clear what I was not supposed to do. Be careful not to define yourself out of an interesting job.

Are you sure you want these things done? Because you won't want me for secretary of labor if you don't. I'd be an embarrassment to you, because when I start on a thing, I round up cohorts. I whip up public demand. You wouldn't want me if you didn't want that.

Why economics?" I echoed gamely. "Because many people in America believe poverty is a moral problem having to do with sloth or some other sin we an blame on individuals. But I believe poverty in American is an economic problem that can be solved.. and I intend to solve it.

Nothing could be more forlorn than the manner in which Madame Vauthier had furnished the two rooms. It seemed as though the woman let rooms with the express purpose that no one should stay in them. Evidently the bed, chairs, tables, bureau, secretary, curtains, came from forced sales at auction, articles massed together in lots as having no separate intrinsic value.

You will make a very good Chief Magistrate, I think.” Shock swept over him that he fought mightily to disguise. So she knew of that, did she? “I’m only one of several possible candidates, madam. You do me great honor to assume I’ll be chosen.” “Masters tells me that the appointment is all but settled.” “Then Masters knows more than I do on the subject.” “And more than my granddaughter as well,” she said. His stomach knotted. Damn Mrs. Plumtree and her machinations. “But I’m sure you took great pains to inform her of it.” The woman hesitated, then gripped the head of her cane with both hands. “I thought she should have all the facts before she threw herself into a misalliance.” Hell and blazes. And Mrs. Plumtree had probably implied that a rich wife would advance his career. He could easily guess how Celia would respond to hearing that, especially after he’d fallen on her with all the subtlety of an ox in rut. His temper swelled. Although he’d suspected that Mrs. Plumtree wouldn’t approve of him for her granddaughter, some part of him had thought that his service to the family-and the woman’s own humble beginnings-might keep her from behaving predictably. He should have known better. “No doubt she was grateful for the information.” After all, it gave Celia just the excuse she needed to continue in her march to marry a great lord. “She claimed that there was nothing between you and her.” “She’s right.” There never had been. He’d been a fool to think there could me. “I am glad to hear it.” Her sidelong glance was filled with calculation. “Because if you play your cards right, you have an even better prospect before you than that of Chief Magistrate.” He froze. “What do you mean?” “You may not be aware of this, but one of my friends is the Home Secretary, Robert Peel. Your superior.” “I’m well aware who my superior is.” “It seems he wishes to establish a police force,” she went on. “He is fairly certain that it will come to pass eventually. When it does, he will appoint a commissioner to oversee the entire force in London.” She cast him a hard stare. “You could be that man.” Jackson fought to hide his surprise. He’d heard rumors of Peel’s plans, of course, but hadn’t realized that they’d progressed so far. Or that she was privy to them. Then it dawned on him why she was telling him this. “You mean, I could be that man if I leave your granddaughter alone.

So progressives have been working hard to come up with lies that can be passed off as facts. Progressives have a whole cultural contingent—Hollywood, the mainline media, the elite universities, even professional comedians—to peddle their propaganda. From the television show Madame Secretary to the front page of the New York Times to nightly quips by Stephen Colbert, the progressive bilge comes at us continually and relentlessly.

in a Time of Peril. New York: Viking, 2011. Albright, Madeleine. Madam Secretary: A Memoir. New York: Miramax

Progressives have a whole cultural contingent—Hollywood, the mainline media, the elite universities, even professional comedians—to peddle their propaganda. From the television show Madame Secretary to the front page of the New York Times to nightly quips by Stephen Colbert, the progressive bilge comes at us continually and relentlessly.

My dear girl, making a few enemies is how you know you’re doing things right.

«I can’t imagine why anyone would try to change the world unless they believed in happy endings» Becoming Madam Secretary

That people want to feel heard. Everybody wants to have that sense of belonging, of being on the inside. No one wants to be left out. So it’s not such a trial to indulge them.

After all, what was the point of keeping America standing if she didn’t stand for something?

If it hadn't been for Cheryl, it wouldn't have occurred to me, but after that conversation, I did notice how heavily male our meetings often were. Once, during a meeting in Asia, the host foreign minister opened his remarks by saying, "Madam Secretary, I want you to take not that we have more women on our delegation than men. It is inspired by your leadership. We thought you might appreciate that." HRC smiled widely and said, "Yes, yes I do, indeed, Minister. That's wonderful." She then quickly jumped into her points, because on our side of the table sat mostly white men, with the exception of two women: HRC and me.

Miss Perkins, sometimes there's a man—or a woman— who is made for a moment. I happen to think you were made for this one.

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? we must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and this thing must be attained. - Marie Curie

It is a heavy burden I take on, Madame Secretary, but I shall do it in honor of you.

Who am I kidding? It’s a wonderful feeling to walk into a shop and see your life story on display, even when customers are striding past it in search of the latest Grisham. My mood lightened further when, just about this time, I was summoned to jury duty. Walking into the cavernous room at the DC courthouse where prospective jurors are made to cool their heels, I sat down next to a young woman. After a moment, she gave me a sidelong glance, as strangers in such a situation will do. I peered at the volume she was holding in her lap—Madam Secretary. The young woman did a double take, our eyes met, we bumped fists, and I yearned on the spot to adopt her.

Historie se žije dopředu, ale píše dozadu.

The delegates fought, ballot after ballot, over an inclusive future or one that embraced bigotry and clutched its collective pearls at alcohol and racy books. I was particularly appalled when William Jennings Bryan, who had run three times under the party’s banner, shouted up at the immigrants in the galleries, “You do not represent the future of America!

Why economics?” I echoed gamely. “Because many people in America believe poverty is a moral problem having to do with sloth or some other sin we can blame on individuals. But I believe poverty in America is an economic problem that can be solved…and I intend to solve it.

Florence Kelley was a legendary reformer who trained at Hull House with Jane Addams and had earned a law degree. Having once been appointed as a public inspector in Illinois, she was also a moving spirit behind the recent founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

the only child of an abolitionist congressman, she’d grown up in a family that would not eat sugar or wear cotton because they were the fruits of slavery. Now she refused to wear clothing made from the labor of children, and she wouldn’t eat anything cooked by overworked women in unsanitary commercial kitchens.

Oh, Franklin can’t win an election,” Mary insisted. “Not even the Roosevelts take him seriously. Eleanor is devoted to him, but others in the family call him Feather Duster Roosevelt.

The important thing was that the Devil’s Deputy had helped me save people from starvation, which was more than all those upstanding charity-minded people were willing to do. Those pillars of rectitude wanted to feed only so-called worthy children, but a corrupt Irish boss helped when no one else would,

Bull Moose Party,

Yes, but unmarried women have less freedom than unmarried men

After all, more than a century earlier, some women in the United States had been allowed to vote, and we were only now winning that right back.

if Americans wanted to keep their freedom, they ought to don liberty caps like the Founding Fathers and resist the concentration of wealth into too few hands. Or we’d reap the economic whirlwind…

was coming to the uncomfortable realization that other women felt a strong personal investment in my career. Even those who weren’t my friends. Beyond any policy I might advance, they wanted to see me succeed. As if my rise validated their own ambitions and self-worth as women. It was both an honor and terribly humbling to hold such a mantle.

These laws violate the sanctity of the family, priests preached from the pulpit, because it was apparently a father’s God-given right to send little Bobby down into a mine to get lung rot.

At hearing this, FDR exploded, “People aren’t cattle, you know!” He told me, “We’re not going to do nothing, Frances. Our nation began as an experiment in self-governance, and by God, in my state, I am determined to experiment.

is abnormal for industry to throw back upon the community the human wreckage due to its wear and tear. The hazards of sickness, accident, invalidism, involuntary unemployment, and old age should be provided for through the adoption of a system of social insurance adapted to American use.

You’ve been the first to do so many things so that other women could follow in your footsteps.

Section 24.

also wish to take this opportunity to remind you that the American experiment has repeatedly proved that people fleeing tyranny make grateful citizens—decent, hardworking, and productive. We’ve reaped tangible benefits by taking in scientists, artists, inventors, and entrepreneurs.

I also wish to take this opportunity to remind you that the American experiment has repeatedly proved that people fleeing tyranny make grateful citizens—decent, hardworking, and productive. We’ve reaped tangible benefits by taking in scientists, artists, inventors, and entrepreneurs.

Social Security—which was expanded again and again to cover more Americans of every race and creed—is now so much a part of American psychology that I truly believe no politician, political party, or political group can possibly destroy it and maintain a democratic system. I suppose I should also be grateful that the reforms I fought for are bricks so firmly embedded in the edifice of our national life that Americans now take them for granted.

All of it made me flare with a righteous anger that our Republican opponents didn’t seem to believe a government of the people, by the people, and for the people ought to do anything about it.