Condoleezza Rice

You go to war when there is a security threat, and Saddam Hussein was seen as a threat to our interests and our security. ”

I've been in enough positions to respect people with different views. ”

I remember, when I was 6 years old, we were having an event at school where different dolls were on display. I said that the tallest doll needed to be on the end, and my little friend said to me, 'Oh, you're just so bossy.' I remember thinking that wasn't a good thing. But I kept insisting the doll had to be on the end anyway. ”

The people of the Middle East share the desire for freedom. We have an opportunity - and an obligation - to help them turn this desire into reality. ”

When I talk to students - and I still think of myself more than anything as a kind of professor on leave - they say, 'Well, how do I get to do what you do?'... And I say, 'Well, you have to start out by being a failed piano major.' And my point to them is don't try to have a 10-year plan. Find the next thing that interests you and follow that. ”

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 know a lot of very stable gay couples. ”

I am a professor at Stanford; I am a happy professor at Stanford. That's where I'm staying. ”

The essence of America - that which really unites us - is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion - it is an idea - and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things. ”

When you're doing collaborative music, the relationship that forms is a very bonding kind of experience. ”