Hillary Clinton will not be sucked into someone else's drama.
That's what the now-presidential candidate once told Oprah during an interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2004. Clinton appeared on the show with her mother, the late Dorothy Rodham, and opened up about the unforgettable life lesson her mom taught her.
"[It's] advice that I think about every day," Clinton said. "You have a choice: You can either be the actor in your own life or you can react to everybody else who's going to try to pull you into their drama."
Clinton, who is currently involved in an election year chockful of drama, also pointed out back then that her mother wasn't the type to make declarative statements and pass them off as advice. She had a different approach.
"Lots of times, the best way my mother gave me advice was not by telling me what to do, but by asking me questions," Clinton said.
For her part, Rodham said she was always deliberate in passing along advice that would empower her daughter.
"That's one of the things I tried to instill in Hillary," she said. "You own yourself; nobody can take control of your mind or your heart."
Another presidential flashback:
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