"Women are not making it to the top. A hundred and ninety heads of state nine are women. Of all the people in parliament in the world, thirteen per cent are women. In the corporate sector, women at the top - C-level jobs, board seats - tops out at fifteen, sixteen per cent."

"For any of us in this room today, let's start out by admitting we're lucky. We don't live in the world our mothers lived in, our grandmothers lived in, where career choices for women were so limited."

"And what I saw happening is that women don't make one decision to leave the workforce. They makes lots of little decisions really far in advance that kind of inevitably lead them there."

"The No. 1 impediment to women succeeding in the workforce is now in the home."

"I sometimes think it ironic for an ex-seaman, longshoreman, truck driver, policeman, bus driver, etc... to find success writing children's novels."

"The seeds of triumph are sown in the quiet mornings when no one is watching. Reflect upon this whenever doubt clouds your horizon."

"The secret of my success is my hairspray."

"I am doomed to an eternity of compulsive work. No set goal achieved satisfies. Success only breeds a new goal. The golden apple devoured has seeds. It is endless."