Madeleine Albright

We are all mortal. What divides us is the use we make of the time and opportunities we have.

Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond preparing to doing.

We keep waiting until we run out of 'untils.' Then it is too late. Our plane has crashed and we haven't done anything about it. We have passed through life without truly exploring its possibilities.

There is not a page of American history, of which we are proud, that was authored by a chronic complainer or prophet of despair. We are doers.

We have a responsibility not to be prisoners of history, but to shape history; a responsibility to fill the role of pathfinder.

Because my parents fled in time, I escaped Hitler. Because of America's generosity, I escaped Stalin. Because of the vision of the Truman-Marshall generation, I have been privileged to live my life in freedom. Millions have still never had that opportunity.