I have been in meetings where a head of state will say, 'I like your tie,' to a man... or, 'I like your country because the weather's good,' or whatever. So for me, the pins in some ways were openers.

I have a lot of different pins ... and it all kind of started as a joke, ... I do like jewelry, but when Saddam Hussein called me a snake, I happened to have a snake pin. And I was doing an interview, actually with CNN, and your cameras picked up that I had on a snake pin, and I was asked why and I said, 'because Saddam Hussein has just called me a snake.'

Nobody's ever said that pins are a tool of diplomacy.

Jewelry and pins have been worn throughout history as symbols of power, sending messages. Interestingly enough, it was mostly men who wore the jewelry in various times, and obviously crowns were part of signals that were being sent throughout history by people of rank.

Don't make me into this airy-fairy, moralist, idealist because I'm not.

If you look at my life, generally, I've been put in situations which were difficult and which I conquered.