Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty

by Hillary Rodham Clinton

I miss a time when truth mattered. I miss fact-based debates about policies to solve problems and improve lives. I miss the clear separation of church and state, once sacrosanct, now breached by culture warriors and Christian nationalists. I miss elections where everyone respects the will of the people, without constant attacks by sore losers and wannabe dictators.

Every day matters more if there are fewer of them ahead. What are we going to do with the time we have left?

Empathy for people you agree with is easy. Empathy for someone you deeply, passionately disagree with is hard but necessary.

I had been First Lady of Arkansas for just a little over six months when Rosalynn came to Little Rock in July 1979 for a childhood immunization event on the back lawn of the governor’s mansion. It was a big deal for the nation’s First Lady to come to Arkansas. It was a big deal to me. And it was a big deal to celebrate vaccinating children against dangerous childhood illnesses.

Something I hope we can keep celebrating!

In the United States, less than 2 percent of all philanthropic giving is to organizations that serve women and girls.

It’s not that women are born with superpowers. But around the world, in the face of oppression, inequality, and misogyny, women have become resourceful. Women find solutions because we have to. We work together because that’s how we survive.

As my friend Madeleine Albright said, there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.

People with religious convictions and deeply held moral beliefs have every right to decide for themselves whom to marry, whether to seek abortion care, or if they want to send their kids to a secular public school or a private religious one. But it is anti-democratic and anti-freedom to impose your religious beliefs on everyone else, especially at the expense of other people’s rights and freedoms.

So if you find yourself tired, or discouraged, or filled with anger, remember: We’re not just fighting against these attacks on our rights. We are fighting for a future where everyone has access to the care they need, to free and fair elections, and to the power and freedom they deserve to determine their futures. That’s a future worth fighting for.

Internal research from Meta, Instagram’s parent company, confirmed in 2019 that “we make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls.”

Being informed is crucial, but stepping away from the news when it’s got you down is an important part of staying in the fight over the long term. Big Tech’s algorithms are designed to keep us hooked 24/7, but that’s not a healthy way to consume news and will only lead to burnout.

We’re all tired. It’s been a long few years. It’s easy to feel powerless or like our efforts and our voices don’t matter. They do. We can’t stop throwing ourselves over and over again into the tumult of the world. It’s the only way to prevent the bleak future we fear and build the better country we deserve.

Too many women in too many countries speak the same language of silence.

“Service is the rent we pay for living.”

There’s no retirement from doing good, no statute of limitations on our call to service.