
Both/And: A Memoir

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”
Huma Abedin • Both/And: A Memoir
Whatever you have, you share. Standing in solidarity, both in joy and in heartache, is a social responsibility and from the moment we arrived we were embraced.
Huma Abedin • Both/And: A Memoir
We adapted in ways that made sense to my parents, letting go of cultural traditions that were no longer practical while holding on to the customs and practices that were important to them.
Huma Abedin • Both/And: A Memoir
As we flew out, low over the city, I was reminded how important it is to talk to a range of people on these foreign trips. They revealed far more than we could learn sitting in government complexes, talking to leaders determined to impress us with how well they were handling things.
Huma Abedin • Both/And: A Memoir
If everything on earth were rational, nothing would happen. —Fyodor Dostoevsky
Huma Abedin • Both/And: A Memoir
I loved living there, but I don’t know if I would look back on it so fondly if it had been the only life I’d ever known, had I not carried my American roots with me while I was there and elsewhere, had I not been certain that freedoms I couldn’t enjoy in my current reality were just a flight away.
Huma Abedin • Both/And: A Memoir
As always, the work required a balance between putting out geopolitical fires as they arose and devising a proactive agenda that year focused on, among other things, human rights, climate change, and strengthening ties with our allies.
Huma Abedin • Both/And: A Memoir
Happy is the man who avoids hardship, but how fine is the man who is afflicted and shows endurance.
Huma Abedin • Both/And: A Memoir
Before me, there came generations of public servants, orators, healers, educators. Their motivations, actions, and choices created the moment I would step into. They blazed trails which allowed me to walk right on past the barriers they had faced and build a life of my choosing.