A visit from Condoleezza Rice

On Thursday I had the awesome opportunity to go hear Condoleezza Rice speak at a BYU forum. I am not one to be very involved or opinionated when it comes to politics but when I heard she would be speaking at BYU I knew I wanted to go listen to what she had to say--and I'm glad I did. I was impressed with how well she carried herself and the advice she had to offer.

Here are a few things she said that impressed me:

One thing Condoleezza said often to the press was, " Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same". We cannot only focus on what's happening today; we must always look at the broad perspective.

"Our great 'national myth' is that it does not matter where you come from, it maters where you are going. People across the world admire this about the United States."

"You might not be able to control your circumstances, but you can control your response to your circumstances."

"I was more fulfilled overcoming and mastering something that was hard for me than succeeding at something that was easy. Try hard things."

"Keep your optimism. It is our responsibility as an educated person to be optimistic."

"What do we do to make sure history's judgment is correct? We defend our country."

"You are fortunate to be at an institution like BYU where faith and reason go together. We don't see faith and intellect as enemies of one another."

"The essence of being human is to integrate what is with what might be."

"Worlds open to you when you find your passion."

She had so many great and inspirational things to share with us and it was an amazing thing to be able to experience.