Hillary Clinton quotes: the former First Lady lays it down.
“Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you’re knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.”
“You have just one life to live. It is yours. Own it, claim it, live it, do the best you can with it.”
“Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world.”
“There is a sense that things, if you keep positive and optimistic about what can be done, do work out.”
“You know, everybody has setbacks in their life, and everybody falls short of whatever goals they might set for themselves. That’s part of living and coming to terms with who you are as a person.”
“I can’t stand whining. I can’t stand the kind of paralysis that some people fall into because they’re not happy with the choices they’ve made. You live in a time when there are endless choices. But you have to work on yourself. Do something!”
“The worst thing that can happen in a democracy – as well as in an individual’s life – is to become cynical about the future and lose hope. That is the end, and we cannot let that happen.”
“I think that if you live long enough, you realize that so much of what happens in life is out of your control, but how you respond to it is in your control. That’s what I try to remember.”
“Fear is always with us, but we just don’t have time for it. Not now.”
“Every moment wasted looking back, keeps us from moving forward. In this world and the world of tomorrow, we must go forward together or not at all.”
“It’s up to us to make the choice to be grateful even when things aren’t going well. It means not just being grateful for the good things, because that’s easy, but also to be grateful for the hard things too. To be grateful even for our flaws, because in the end, they make us stronger by giving us a chance to reach beyond our grasp.”
“Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as you can.”
“You have to be true to yourself. You have to be enough in touch with who you are and what you want, how you want to live and what’s important to you, to make your decisions based on that. Sometimes that’s very difficult.”
“Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.”
“Dignity does not come from avenging insults, especially from violence that can never be justified. It comes from taking responsibility and advancing our common humanity.”
“We should remember that just as a positive outlook on life can promote good health, so can everyday acts of kindness.”
“Among the most striking things that I have learned is how much we have in common. I’ve sat down with people everywhere, discussing what was in their hearts and on their minds. And it doesn’t take long to find commonality, which is often overlooked, ignored, dismissed, and rejected otherwise.”
“It is hard to be a woman. You must think like a man, act like a lady, look like a young girl, and work like a horse – a sign that hangs in my house.”
“I do not wish women to have power over men, but over themselves.”
“Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”
“If women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations will flourish.”
“We need to understand that there is no formula for how women should lead their lives. That is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her God-given potential.”
“In my experience, the balancing act women in politics have to master is challenging at every level, but it gets worse the higher you rise. If we’re too tough, we’re unlikeable. If we’re too soft, we’re not cut out for the big leagues. If we work too hard, we’re neglecting our families. If we put family first, we’re not serious about the work. If we have a career but no children, there’s something wrong with us, and vice versa. If we want to compete for a higher office, we’re too ambitious. Can’t we just be happy with what we have? Can’t we leave the higher rungs on the ladder for men?”
“To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”
“To every little girl who dreams big? Yes, you can be anything you want. Even President.”
“Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.”
“I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life.”
“It’s not easy to be a woman in politics. That’s an understatement. It can be excruciating, humiliating. The moment a woman steps forward and says, ‘I’m running for office,’ it begins: the analysis of her face, her body, her voice, her demeanor; the diminishment of her stature, her ideas, her accomplishments, her integrity. It can be unbelievably cruel.”
“I go back over my own shortcomings and the mistakes we made. I take responsibility for all of them. You can blame the data, blame the message, blame anything you want – but I was the candidate.”
“Probably my worst quality is that I get very passionate about what I think is right.”
“If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just change my hairstyle.”
“People can judge me for what I’ve done. And I think when somebody’s out in the public eye, that’s what they do. So I’m fully comfortable with who I am, what I stand for, and what I’ve always stood for.”
“The truth is, everyone’s flawed. That’s the nature of human beings. But our mistakes alone shouldn’t define us. We should be judged by the totality of our work and life.”
“There were plenty of people hoping that I, too, would just disappear. But here I am.”
“And it’s the only way I see forward for myself. I can carry around my bitterness forever, or I can open my heart once more to love and kindness. That’s the path I choose.”
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
