A biography for Madeleine M. Kuninhasn’t been written yet.
“Working moms, and increasingly working dads, don't want a government handout, but they do need a hand up.”
“Compromise, contrary to popular opinion, does not mean selling out one's principles. Compromise means working out differences to forge a solution which fits the diversity of the body politic.”
“Why can't the world be like a summer day, when I thought that health care would be an ethical decision and wars existed only to be stopped?”
“The political environment we create matters because a disturbed person cannot always tell the difference between explosive rhetoric and explosive actions.”
“To equate a corporation with a person is a travesty of justice.”
“When facing the public, politicians constantly filter their ideas through a political sieve. 'How will this affect the environmentalists, labor, management?' Sometimes the sieve gets so clogged by political taboos that no new ideas pass through.”
“Are there really good wars and bad wars? We thought so during World War II, and in retrospect, we were right. But in Vietnam, and Iraq we were wrong.”
“There are no more excuses for leaving women out of the inner circles of power. Qualified women are everywhere. Women are ready for leadership; they just need to be identified and asked.”
“The death of a famous person is different from the death of a loved one, whether it is Michael Jackson, Frank McCourt, or Walter Cronkite. We didn't know any of them personally, and yet, we experience a sense of loss.”
“The very qualities that make it harder for women to get elected - not being part of the old boy's network - gives them the advantage of having fresh, and yes, clean faces.”
“It's time for male leaders to not only ask for binders of qualified women, but to re-write the definition of 'qualified.' The best man for the job, may in fact, be a woman, whose biography is not traditional, but is rich with experiences and skills that are not necessarily learned either in school or on the job.”
“When people have lost their jobs or are afraid of losing their jobs in the future, they lash out. They want others to know about their fears, their pain.”
“Why are video games so violent? The ones I've seen remind me of the 4th of July, with everything exploding, buildings, cars, airplanes, men and women. Kill, kill, and kill for sport and entertainment.”
“It's time for women to wake up, to use the power of the vote, to honor the suffragists who chained themselves to the White House fence so that women could vote.”
“The United States is no longer first in the world in upward mobility. We can reverse that trend by giving our young children an equal start in life as they begin their journey to fulfill the American Dream.”
“I hadn't thought that women were particularly dangerous golfers. Could that be the reason that the Augusta National Golf club refuses to take down its 'No Women Allowed' sign?”
“A skilled worker, regardless of the job description, remains a treasure.”
“Early childhood education begins early, even before birth.”
“Remember what Susan B. Anthony said? 'Failure is impossible.' Failure is possible if women don't vote.”
“The best antidote to poverty remains simple - a paycheck. Policies like paid family leave, workplace flexibility and affordable quality childcare can make the difference for two-parent or single-parent working families who struggle to make ends meet.”