Condoleezza Rice Quotes & Sayings

“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.”

“What you know today can affect what you do tomorrow. But what you know today cannot affect what you did yesterday.”

“We need a common enemy to unite us.”

“So I think, if September 11 taught us anything, it taught us that we're vulnerable, and vulnerable in ways that we didn't fully understand.”

“The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly Saddam can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.”

“We're in a new world. We're in a world in which the possibility of terrorism, married up with technology, could make us very, very sorry that we didn't act.”

“I will never forget the bright September day, standing at my desk in the White House, when my young assistant said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center - and then a second one - and a third, the Pentagon.”

“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.”

“Does anybody think these people were just sitting around drinking tea?”

“After all, when the world looks to America, they look to us because we are the most successful political and economic experiment in human history.”