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And Barack And I Were Raised With So Many Of The Same Values, Like You Work Hard For What You Want In Life. That Your Word Is Your Bond; That You Do What You Say You're Going To Do. That You Treat People With Dignity And Respect, Even If You Don't Know Them And Even If You Don't Agree With Them.

-Michelle Obama

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And Barack And I

Michelle Obama

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And Barack And I Were Raised With So Many Of The Same Values, Like You Work Hard For What You Want In Life. That Your Word Is Your Bond; That You Do What You Say You're Going To Do. That You Treat People With Dignity And Respect, Even If You Don't Know Them And Even If You Don't Agree With Them.

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The Beauty Of My Job Is That I Get To See More Of That America. And That Feeds Me.

Our Life Before Moving To Washington Was Filled With Simple Joys...saturdays At Soccer Games, Sundays At Grandma's House...and A Date Night For Barack And Me Was Either Dinner Or A Movie, Because As An Exhausted Mom, I Couldn't Stay Awake For Both.

I Was Blessed Throughout My Entire Career. I Had People Rooting For Me. It Started With My Parents, But It Extended To Almost Every Teacher That I Had. Even When I Was A Young Lawyer, There Were Other Women And Men In The Firm Who Took Me Under Their Wing.

For Me, Being A Mother Made Me A Better Professional, Because Coming Home Every Night To My Girls Reminded Me What I Was Working For. And Being A Professional Made Me A Better Mother, Because By Pursuing My Dreams, I Was Modeling For My Girls How To Pursue Their Dreams.

I Mean, Hope Doesn't Get Actualized In Three And A Half Years. If That Were The Case, We'd Be Out Of Luck As A Country.

I've Always Tried To Make Sure That What I Do Really Connects With The Broader Agenda Of What My Husband Barack Obama Is Trying To Do.... But I Also Find That I Have To Be Very Passionate Myself About The Issue To Be Able To Represent It Well. One Of The Big Issues That I've Talked A Lot About...is Childhood Health, Nutrition And Obesity.

'let's Move!' Is Not About Having Government Tell People What To Do, Because Government Doesn't Have All The Answers.

Kids, Everybody Can Get Behind. It's A Bipartisan Thing. We Care About Our Kids' Health. But The Truth Is, It's Very Important For Us To Talk To Parents, In Particular Mothers, Because It's Really Our Self-esteem, It's Our Initiative.

I Try To Have No Absolute Nos. I Love French Fries, I Like A Good Burger, And I Like Pie. And That's Okay.

Countries Are Stronger And More Prosperous When The Voices And Opinions Of All Their Citizens Can Be Heard.

Fashion Is About So Much More Than Just A Pretty Pair Of Pumps Or The Perfect Hemline. For So Many People Across The Country, It Is A Calling, It Is A Career, And It's A Way They Feed Their Families.

As Women, We Cannot Afford To Neglect Ourselves.

My Ability To Get Through My Day Greatly Depends On The Relationship That I Have With Other Women...we Have To Be Able To Champion Other Women. We Have To Root For Each Other's Successes And Not Delight In One Another's Failures.

When It Comes To The Health Of Our Families, Barack Refused To Listen To All Those Folks Who Told Him To Leave Health Reform For Another Day, Another President. He Didn't Care Whether It Was The Easy Thing To Do Politically - That's Not How He Was Raised - He Cared That It Was The Right Thing To Do.

This Year's [2016] White House Holiday Theme Is "the Gift Of The Holidays," And Our Decorations Reflect Some Of Our Greatest Gifts As A Nation: From Our Incredible Military Families, To The Life-changing Impact Of A Great Education.

All We Can Do As Women Is Make The Best Decisions For Us. And That Includes Everything From How You Look To How You Dress To Whether You Choose To Stay At Home Or Work When You Have Kids. All Those Decisions Are So Personal, And We Have To Start With Finding What Brings Us Joy And What Brings Us Our Own Individual Confidence. And If We're Feeling Good With Those Choices, Then It Makes What Everybody Else Has To Say Less Important.

The Only Limit To The Height Of Your Achievements Is The Reach Of Your Dreams And Your Willingness To Work Hard For Them.

I Don't, As My Mom Would Say, Sweat The Small Stuff In Our Relationship. Because When I Think Of Day-to-day Irritations That You Might Have With The One You Love, They're Nothing Compared To The Bigger Task At Hand.

Gardening Has Increased, Community Gardens Have Increased Significantly. There Are 50 Percent More Community Gardens Right Here In Washington Dc.

We're Our Kids' First And Best Role Models. So The First Question Is, What Are You As A Mom Or A Dad Doing Every Day, Or Every Week, To Start Getting Into The Good Habits?

I Love That For Barack, There Is No Such Thing As 'us' And 'them' - He Doesn't Care Whether You're A Democrat, A Republican, Or None Of The Above... He Knows That We All Love Our Country... And He's Always Ready To Listen To Good Ideas... He's Always Looking For The Very Best In Everyone He Meets.

And What Has Been Just Completely Heart Warming Is To See That People Are Really Hungry For Something Different.

Today Jazz Music Is Performed & Listened To By People Of All Ethnicity, Backgrounds, Ages & Creeds.

We Should Always Have Three Friends In Our Lives-one Who Walks Ahead Who We Look Up To And Follow; One Who Walks Beside Us, Who Is With Us Every Step Of Our Journey; And Then, One Who We Reach Back For And Bring Along After We've Cleared The Way.

I Talk About The Food Issue, I'm Really Coming At It From Pre-white House Times, When I Was A Working Mother With A Busy Husband, A Very Demanding Job And Two Little Kids To Feed.... I Had To Learn What It Means To Feed And Care For Your Kids In A Country Where Fast Food Is Abundant, Where Time Is A Rarity, Where Eating Out Is A Trend, Because Families Are So Busy.... Yes, I'm First Lady, But I Know The Struggles.

Politics Is A Waste Of Time.

We All Grew Up In Communities With Grandmothers Who Cooked Two, Three Vegetables That You Had To Eat. There Was No Ifs, Ands Or Buts About It. But That's Because Many Of Our Grandparents, They Had Community Gardens; There Was The Vegetable Man That Came Around. There Were Many Other Resources That Allowed Them To Have Access. So It's Not That People Don't Know Or Don't Want To Do The Right Thing; They Just Have To Have Access To The Foods That They Know Will Make Their Families Healthier.

Style Helps Distinguish You . . . It's A Great Potential Opportunity That People Tend To Leave By The Wayside

I'm Varying My Workouts So It's Not Just Cardio But Also Includes Moves To Maintain My Flexibility.

When Women And Girls Rise, Their Communities And Their Countries Rise With Them

I Am Not Asking Anyone To Take The Fun Out Of Childhood. As We All Know, Treats Are One Of The Best Parts Of Being A Kid. Instead, The Goal Here Is To Empower Parents Instead Of Undermining Them As They Try To Make Healthier Choices For Their Families.

When You've Worked Hard, And Done Well, And Walked Through That Doorway Of Opportunity...you Do Not Slam It Shut Behind You...you Reach Back, And You Give Other Folks The Same Chances That Helped You Succeed.

Success Isn't About How Much Money You Make, It's About The Difference You Make In People's Lives.

Inspirational Life

Just Do What Works For You, Because There Will Always Be Someone Who Think Diffenrently.

While Budgets Are Tight Right Now, There Are Schools Across The Country That Are Showing That It Doesn't Take A Whole Lot Of Money Or Resources To Give Our Kids The Nutrition They Deserve. What It Does Take, However, Is Effort. What It Does Take Is Imagination. What It Does Take Is A Commitment To Our Children's Futures.

We Got A Commitment That 3 Million Nurses Are Going To Be Trained To Better Identify These Signs [of Ptsd], Because, You Know, When These Troops Come Home And They Become Veterans And They Go Back Into The Civilian Community, They're Not Always Going Through The Va System For Medical Care. They're Going To Show Up At Community Hospitals And Clinics.

We Don't Need New Discoveries Or New Inventions To Reverse This Trend. We Have The Tools At Our Disposal To Reverse It. All We Need Is The Motivation, The Opportunity And The Willpower To Do What Needs To Be Done. ...with This Report, We Have A Very Solid Road Map That We Need To Make These Goals Real, To Solve This Problem Within A Generation.

For Me Exercise Is More Than Just Physical, It’s Therapeutic.

New Years Resolution

I Grew Up On The South Side Of Chicago In A Working Class Community. There Were No Miracles In My Life, There's Nothing Miraculous About How I Grew Up, And I Want People To Know When They Look At Me, To Be Clear That They See What An Investment In Public Education Can Look Like.

You've Got To Make Choices That Make Sense For You Because There's Always Going To Be Somebody Who'll Think You Should Do Something Differently.

Much Of What We Do With Our Kids Is Social And That's Good, And We Shouldn't Stop All That. I Mean, How Boring Would It Be That, No, We Can't Eat Anything Out So We're Just Going To Go Home And Sit In The Closet And Wait To The Next Day.

My Experiences At Princeton Have Made Me Far More Aware Of My 'blackness' Than Ever Before.

All Of Us Are Driven By A Simple Belief That The World As It Is Just Won't Do - That We Have An Obligation To Fight For The World As It Should Be.

Don't Let Anyone Speak For You, And Don't Rely On Others To Fight For You.

And Let's Be Clear: It's Not Enough Just To Limit Ads For Foods That Aren't Healthy. It's Also Going To Be Critical To Increase Marketing For Foods That Are Healthy.

It's Hard To Change Adults, And It's Hard To Change It From A Political Position Or A Perceived Political Position.

I Hate Diversity Workshops. “real Change Comes From Having Enough Comfort To Be Really Honest And Say Something Very Uncomfortable.

We Are Living In A Time Where We Just Don't Have Enough Time. People Are Rushed. They're Over Worked, Over Scheduled. Not Enough Resources. ...but The Thing That I Want People To Understand In This Campaign Is That Families Can Make Small Manageable Changes In Their Lives That Can Have Pretty Significant Impacts.

Like So Many American Families, Our Families Weren't Asking For Much. They Didn't Begrudge Anyone Else's Success Or Care That Others Had Much More Than They Did, In Fact, They Admired It.

As Women, We Must Stand Up For Ourselves. We Must Stand Up For Each Other. We Must Stand Up For Justice For All.

Justice For All

You Look At All The Sporting Companies Out There. I Won't Name Names, But We Know Who They Are. Good Brands And Logos And Things Like That, And They Have To Start Catering To Real Women. Even In How Their Sports Apparel Is Designed, And The Commercials - You Want To Look At A Commercial And See Yourself.

The Benefits Of Studying Abroad Are Almost Endless.

You Can Be A Good Mom And Still Work Out, Get Your Rest, Have A Career - Or Not. My Mother Encouraged Me To Find That Balance.

My Mother's Love Has Always Been A Sustaining Force For Our Family, And One Of My Greatest Joys Is Seeing Her Integrity, Her Compassion, Her Intelligence Reflected In My Daughters.

Being A Healthy Woman Isn't About Getting On A Scale Or Measuring Your Waistline. We Need To Start Focusing On What Matters-on How We Feel, And How We Feel About Ourselves.

I Always Want To Be On The Cusp Of Being In The Best Shape That I Can Be. What I'm Discovering Is That The Older You Get, The More Work You Have To Do To Stay There.

There Are So Many Really Good Role Models Out There, We Just Have To Make Sure That We Don't Glorify Just One Type. We Have The First Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, Who Is Ready To Be A Force In Kids' Lives. I Could Name Hundreds Of People Like Her.

People Have Notions Of What A Wife's Role Should Be In This Process, And It's Been A Traditional One Of Blind Adoration. My Model Is A Little Different - I Think Most Real Marriages Are.

One Of The Things I Want ... All The Kids Here To Remember, Is That These [major League Soccer] Stars Were Not Born Superstar Athletes ... Many Of Them Started Out Just Like Many Of You-playing On A Team At School, Or Just Kicking A Ball Around On The Playground With Their Friends. But They Stuck With It. And I Tell This To My Girls All The Time. I Mean, You Get To The Point When ... Things You Enjoy ... Start Getting Hard-that's When You Know You're Getting Good, And You Have To Stick Through It.

I Want To Send A Very Clear Message To The Men And Women Who Are Wearing - Or Who Have Worn - Our Country's Uniform And To Their Spouses: When You Have Finished Your Service To Our Nation, You've Got 2,000 Great American Companies Ready And Waiting To Bring You On Board

I Want The Young People To Pay Attention Because, See, Back When I First Met Barack, We Started Dating, He Had Everything Going For Him. All Right, Ladies, Listen To This. This Is What I Want You To Be Looking For. Yes, He Was Handsome-still Is. I Think So. He Was Charming, Talented, And Oh-so Smart, Truly. But That Is Not Why I Married Him. Now, See, I Want The Fellas To Pay Attention To This. You All Listening? What Truly Made Me Fall In Love With Barack Obama Was His Character. You Hear Me? It Was His Character. It Was His Decency, His Honesty, His Compassion And Conviction.

Falling In Love

Parents Have A Right To Expect That Their Efforts At Home Won't Be Undone Each Day In The School Cafeteria Or In The Vending Machine In The Hallway. ...parents Have A Right To Expect That Their Kids Will Be Served Fresh, Healthy Food That Meets High Nutritional Standards.

I Don't Have The Stressful Job. Barack Obama Does.

The One Thing I Believe Is That Families Are Off-limits. And I Think My Husband Said It, And He Was Clear On That. And I Totally Agree With Him.

My Happiness Is Tied To How I Feel About Myself.

When You Walk Through That Door Of Opportunity You Don't Slam It Shut Behind You.

When You're Really Trying To Make Serious Change, You Don't Want People To Get Caught Up In Emotion Because Change Isn't Emotion. Because Change Isn't Emotion. Its Real Work And Organization And Strategy - That's Just The Truth Of It. I Mean, You Pull People In With Inspiration, But Then You Have To Roll Up Your Sleeves And You've Got To Make Sacrifices And You Have Got To Have Structure.

Cute's Good. But Cute Only Lasts For So Long, And Then It's, 'who Are You As A Person?' Look At The Heart. Look At The Soul. Look At How The Guy Treats His Mother And What He Says About Women. How He Acts With Children He Doesn't Know. And, More Important, How Does He Treat You?

Selfishly, Working With Kids Gives Me Joy - It Makes Me Feel Like My Life Has A Purpose. And I Thought, Imagine What We Can Do In The White House, Particularly With The Kids In The D.c. Area, Many Of Whom Have Never Set Foot On The White House Lawn.

It Is Our Fundamental Belief In The Power Of Hope That Has Allowed Us To Rise Above The Voices Of Doubt And Division, Of Anger And Fear That We Have Faced In Our Own Lives And In The Life Of America.

When I'm Unhappy With Something, People Know, Because I Don't Want To Hold On To It. I'd Rather Deal Immediately With The Stuff That Bothers Me, So Using My Network - My Girlfriends, My Husband, My Mom - I Talk A Lot, I Vent.

I Like To Talk About My Obsession With French Fries Because I Don't Want People To Think That 'let's Move' Is About Complete, Utter Deprivation. It's About Moderation And Real-life Changes And Ideas That Really Work For Families.

Together, We Can Help Make Sure That Every Family That Walks Into A Restaurant Can Make An Easy, Healthy Choice.

Together We Can

Healthy Choices

I Am A Sleeper. When You Wake Up At 4:30 In The Morning To Do A Workout, You're Sleepy At 8 In The Evening. By 10 O'clock At The Latest, I'm In Bed.

I Think My Mother Taught Me What Not To Do. She Put Us First, Always, Sometimes To The Detriment Of Herself. She Encouraged Me Not To Do That. She'd Say Being A Good Mother Isn't All About Sacrificing; It's Really Investing And Putting Yourself Higher On Your Priority List.

Hope And Change Are Hard-fought Things.

Hope And Change

I Mean, That's The Least We Should Do For These Men And Women [veterans And Military Spouses], Is To Make Sure They Come Back To Jobs That Pay, To Career Opportunities, That These Spouses Are Able To Add A Second Income To Their Households, Because These Families Do Not Have A Lot Of Resources.

It's Not About Government Telling People What To Do. It's About Each Of Us, In Our Own Families, In Our Own Communities, Standing Up And Demanding More For Our Kids. And It's About Companies Like Walmart Answering That Call.

This Is Really What The White House Is All About. It’s The “people’s House.” It’s A Place That Is Steeped In History, But It’s Also A Place Where Everyone Should Feel Welcome. And That's Why My Husband And I Have Made It Our Mission To Open Up The House To As Many People As We Can.

I Was Out There Meeting With A Lot Of Working Moms And Whenever I Would Gather A Group Of Women, There Was Always A Voice That Was Unfamiliar To Me, And It Was The Voice Of A Military Spouse, Oftentimes A Woman, Oftentimes Working, Many Times In A Position Where They've Had To Move Every Two Or Three Years, Where Their Kids Have Had To Change School Multiple Times, People Dealing - Families Dealing With Multiple Deployments, Dealing With The Stresses Of Reconnection.

You've Got To Keep Your Body Active, Even If That Means Just Turning On Some Music And Dancing For An Hour. ...that's How You;ll Prepare Your Bodies And Your Minds For Greatness.

But, As Potentially The First African American First Lady, I Was Also The Focus Of Another Set Of Questions And Speculations; Conversations Sometimes Rooted In The Fears And Misperceptions Of Others. Was I Too Loud, Or Too Angry, Or Too Emasculating? Or Was I Too Soft, Too Much Of A Mom, Not Enough Of A Career Woman?

We Learned About Honesty And Integrity - That The Truth Matters... That You Don't Take Shortcuts Or Play By Your Own Set Of Rules... And Success Doesn't Count Unless You Earn It Fair And Square.

I Am So Tired Of Fear. And I Don't Want My Girls To Live In A Country, In A World, Based On Fear.

My Children Are Very Blessed.... That's Why I Think That Mentoring Is Such A Critical Part Of The Role I Can Play In This Position. I See How Little Bits Of Exposure And Big Bits Of Exposure Really Change My Girls Significantly, And I Want That For More Girls Around The Country And The World.

What I Love About Design Is The Artistic And Scientific Complexity That Also Becomes Useful.

To Be Able To Do It In The Warmth And - Of The White House And To Do It Around People Who Do Care About My Kids In A Country That Has Been Respectful Of My Children And Their Privacy, It Has Been Less Stressful Than I Would Have Imagined For Me.

We've Gotten Commitments From Medical Schools, From Nursing Schools, To Step Up And Increase That Pool Of Knowledgeable Individuals.

Now, A Good Education Is About So Much More Than Just Learning Geometry Or Memorizing Dates In History. All Of That Is Important, But An Education Is Also About Exploring New Things -- Discovering What Makes You Come Alive, And Then Being Your Best At Whatever You Choose

So We Know That It's Not Enough For Us To Simply Encourage More People To Study Abroad. We Also Need To Make Sure That They Can Actually Afford It.

You Work Hard For What You Want In Life.

I've Always Been A Closet Jock, But When I Got Married And Had Kids, That Fell By The Wayside.

I Was Blessed Throughout My Entire Career. I Had People Rooting For Me. It Started With My Parents, But It Extended To Almost Every Teacher That I Had.

We All Need To Start Making Some Changes To How Our Families Eat. Now, Everyone Loves A Good Sunday Dinner. Me Included. And There's Nothing Wrong With That. The Problem Is When We Eat Sunday Dinner Monday Through Saturday.

Learning Through The Arts Reinforces Critical Academic Skills In Reading, Language Arts And Math, And Provides Students With The Skills To Creatively Solve Problems.

Success Is Only Meaningful - And Enjoyable - If It Feels Like Your Own.

For Me, As A Mother, I Am Just, You Know, I Just Can't Put Into Words How Important It Is For Every American, For Every Mother, For Every Person In This Country, To Have Healthcare.

Although The Circumstances Of Our Lives May Seem Very Disengaged, With Me Standing Here As The First Lady Of The United States Of America And You Just Getting Through School, I Want You To Know We Have Very Much In Common. For Nothing In My Life Ever Would Have Predicted That I Would Be Standing Here As The First African-american First Lady.

I Think That People Are Tired. They're Tired Of The Same Old Kind Of Politics. People Want A New Tone To Politics.

We Need To Fix Our Souls. Our Souls Are Broken In This Nation. We Have Lost Our Way. And It Begins With Inspiration. It Begins With Leadership.

Barack Obama Was A Black Man That Lived On The South Side Of Chicago, Who Had His Share Of Troubles Catching Cabs.

We Learned About Dignity And Decency - That How Hard You Work Matters More Than How Much You Make... That Helping Others Means More Than Just Getting Ahead Yourself.

I Would Be Depressed If I Felt I Could Never Eat The Things That I Love. I Also Don't Want My Girls To Be Obsessed About Food.

We Need All Hands On Deck, And That Means Clearing Hurdles For Women And Girls As They Navigate Careers In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math.

A Lot Of Young People Think They're Invincible, But The Truth Is Young People Are Knuckleheads... Now Young People Can Get Insurance For As Little As $50 A Month, Less Than The Cost Of Gym Shoes.

Do Not Die In The History Of Your Past Hurts And Past Experiences, But Live In The Now And Future Of Your Destiny.

I Have A Very Eclectic Ipod. So I've Got My Cardio People - So It's Anything From Beyonce To Some Jay-z To Janelle Monae, Her Song 'tightrope,' That's A Good Cardio Song. And Then I've Got Sting. I've Got Mary J. Blige. I've Got The Beatles. I've Got Michael Jackson. I Try To Pick The Songs That I Personally Love.

We're Going To Have To Change Our Traditions, Our History.

Barack And I Were Both Raised By Families Who Didn't Have Much In The Way Of Money Or Material Possessions But Who Had Given Us Something Far More Valuable - Their Unconditional Love, Their Unflinching Sacrifice, And The Chance To Go Places They Had Never Imagined For Themselves.

Unconditional Love

The Problem Is When That Fun Stuff Becomes The Habit. And I Think That's What's Happened In Our Culture. Fast Food Has Become The Everyday Meal.

Fashion Is Not Just About What We Wear, But...fashion Is Also A Business. It Is An Art, It's A Career That Involves Science, Engineering, Accounting And So Much More. People Can Learn About The Math Behind Charles James' Designs, And Think, 'maybe I Should Pay Closer Attention To Geometry This Semester'

I Never Cut Class. I Loved Getting A's, I Liked Being Smart. I Liked Being On Time. I Thought Being Smart Is Cooler Than Anything In The World.

If We Truly Believe That Every Girl In Every Corner Of The Globe Is Worthy Of An Education As Our Own Daughters And Granddaughters Are, Then We Need To Deepen Our Commitment To These Efforts.

You All Have Opportunities And Skills And Education That So Many Folks Who Came Before You Never Could Have Dreamed Of. So Just Imagine The Kind Of Impact That You're Going To Make. Imagine How You Can Inspire Those Around You To Reach Higher And Complete Their Own Education.

Barack, Like Any Leader, Is Human. And, You Know, Our Challenges In This Country Isn't Finding The Next Person Who's Gonna Deliver Us From Our Own Evil. Because Our Challenges Are Us. The Challenges That This Country Faces Is How Are We As Individuals In This Society Gonna Change? What Are We Gonna Do Differently?

My Message To Women: Do What Makes You Feel Good, Because There'll Always Be Someone Who Thinks You Should Do It Differently. Whether Your Choices Are Hits Or Misses, At Least They're Your Own.

We're [president Barack Obama And I] Clear On The Fact That We Have To Stay Humble And Prayerful. We Have To Dig Down Deep To Our Roots. When Things Come Together, We Know Some Of It Is Barack, Some Of It Is Us-but A Lot Of It Has Nothing To Do With Either Of Us.

Because No Matter What Happened, I Had The Peace Of Mind Of Knowing That All Of The Chatter, The Name-calling, The Doubting -- All Of It Was Just Noise. It Did Not Define Me. It Didn’t Change Who I Was. And Most Importantly, It Couldn’t Hold Me Back.

You Do Not Keep American Democracy In Suspense. Because, Look, Too Many People Have Marched And Protested And Fought And Died For This Democracy.

I Hate Fund-raising. Haaaaate It. Hate, Hate It.

I Never Thought I'd Be On Sesame Street With Elmo And Big Bird. I'm Still Thrilled. I'm On A High.

Do Not Bring People In Your Life Who Weigh You Down. And Trust Your Instincts ... Good Relationships Feel Good. They Feel Right. They Don't Hurt. They're Not Painful. That's Not Just With Somebody You Want To Marry, But It's With The Friends That You Choose. It's With The People You Surround Yourselves With.

Some Of My Best Memories Are Sitting On My Dad's Lap, Cheering On Olga And Nadia, Carl Lewis And Others For Their Brilliance And Perfection.

Find People Who Will Make You Better.

During The First Campaign, One Of My Jobs As My Husband's Spouse Was To Travel Around The Country And Really Listen To Women. There Were Voices That Were New To Me: The Voices Of Military Spouses, Many Of Them Women, And Veterans.... I Was Overwhelmed By Their Challenges, And The Notion That We As A Country Don't Even Know That These Women Exist, Because We Live In A Country Where One Percent Of The Population Protects The Rights And Freedoms Of The Other 99 Percent Of Us. I Thought That If I Had The Opportunity To Serve As First Lady, I Was Going To Use This Platform To Be Their Voice.

Good Relationships Feel Good. They Feel Right. They Don't Hurt.

Good Relationship

We Need To Support Mary Burke For Governor!

What I Know For Sure Is That All The Sacrifice And Challenges We Face Are Worth It If We're Creating A Better Future For Our Kids. I Just Think If The Adults Are Always Thinking About The World We Want To Leave For Our Kids, We're Going To Make The Right Choices Every Single Time.

Talking Is Good. Conversations Have To Be Forever.

The Arts Are Not Just A Nice Thing To Have Or To Do If There Is Free Time Or If One Can Afford It. Rather, Paintings And Poetry, Music And Fashion, Design And Dialogue, They All Define Who We Are As A People And Provide An Account Of Our History For The Next Generation.

Sometimes, It's Just Easier To Say Yes To That Extra Snack Or Dessert, Because Frankly, It Is Exhausting To Keep Saying No. It's Exhausting To Plead With Our Kids To Eat Just One More Bite Of Vegetables.

Whether You Come From A Council Estate Or A Country Estate, Your Success Will Be Determined By Your Own Confidence And Fortitude.

African American

For Me, I Look At The Faces Of My Kids And I Think About The Future That Is Going To Await Them And Whether They're Going To Not Just Have The Financial Resources To Be Prepared For The Challenge, But Whether They're Going To Have The Strength And The Stamina To Live Healthier, Longer Lives So That They Can See Their Kids And Grandkids. That's The Legacy I Hope To See, And It Can Have Nothing To Do With Me And I'd Be Perfectly Happy.

You May Not Always Have A Comfortable Life And You Will Not Always Be Able To Solve All Of The World's Problems At Once But Don't Ever Underestimate The Importance You Can Have Because History Has Shown Us That Courage Can Be Contagious And Hope Can Take On A Life Of Its Own.

Our Kids Didn't Do This To Themselves. They Don't Decide The Sugar Content In Soda Or The Advertising Content Of A Television Show. Kids Don't Choose What's Served To Them For Lunch At School, And Shouldn't Be Deciding What's Served To Them For Dinner At Home. And They Don't Decide Whether There's Time In The Day Or Room In The Budget To Learn About Healthy Eating Or To Spend Time Playing Outside.

I Always Encourage People To Start In Their Own Personal Universe, Because Sometimes We As Parents Start Thinking About The Big Picture. How Do I Change What's Happening In My Entire School? And How Do I Do It In My Community? And Then You Get Overwhelmed And It's Just Like, "forget It, I'll Just Stay Here In My Kitchen And Wait." But, Start Small.

I Feel Fortunate As A Woman To Have A Husband Who Loves Me And Shows Me In Every Way.

My Happiness Isn't Connected To My Husband's Or My Boss's Or My Children's Behavior. You Have Control Over Your Own Actions, Your Own Well-being.

No Matter Who You Are, No Matter Where You Come From, You Are Beautiful.

One Thing That I've Learned From Male Role Models Is That They Don't Hesitate To Invest In Themselves, With The View That, If I'm Healthy And Happy, I'm Going To Be A Better Support To My Spouse And Children. And I've Found That To Be The Case: Once My Kids Were Settled, The Next Thing I Did Was Take Care Of My Own Health And Sanity. And Made Sure That I Was Exercising And Felt Good About Myself. I'd Bring That Energy To Everything Else That I Did, The Career, Relationship, On And On And On.

In The 10 Cities With The Nation's Highest Obesity Rates, The Direct Costs Connected With Obesity And Obesity-related Diseases Are Roughly $50 Million Per 100,000 Residents. And If These 10 Cities Just Cut Their Obesity Rates Down To The National Average, All Added Up They Combine To Save Nearly $500 Million In Healthcare Costs Each Year.

Education Is The Single-most Important Civil Rights Issue That We Face Today.

People Are Always Going To Have Opinions, And People Have A Right To Their Opinions, Particularly When You're The First Lady; You're Representing The Nation. I've Tried To Be At Peace With The Choices That I Make First, And Then Be Open To Everyone Else's Reflection.

My View Is That If You Can't Run Your Own House, You Certainly Can't Run The White House. Can't Do It.

Policies That Support Families Aren't Political Issues. They're Personal. They're The Causes I Carry With Me Every Single Day.

You See, Even Though Back Then Barack Was A Senator And A Presidential Candidate... To Me, He Was Still The Guy Who'd Picked Me Up For Our Dates In A Car That Was So Rusted Out, I Could Actually See The Pavement Going By Through A Hole In The Passenger Side Door... He Was The Guy Whose Proudest Possession Was A Coffee Table He'd Found In A Dumpster, And Whose Only Pair Of Decent Shoes Was Half A Size Too Small.

In Fact, In The Last Job I Had Before Coming To The White House - I Remember This Clearly - I Was On Maternity Leave With Sasha, Still Trying To Figure Out What To Do With My Life, And I Got A Call For An Interview For This Position, A Senior Position At The Hospitals. And I Thought, Okay, Here We Go. So I Had To Scramble To Look For Babysitting, And Couldn't Find One.

When The Average Child Is Now Spending Nearly Eight Hours A Day In Front Of Some Kind Of Screen, Many Of Their Opinions And Preferences Are Being Shaped By The Marketing Campaigns You All Create. And That’s Where The Problem Comes In.. ... And I’m Here Today With One Simple Request - And That Is To Do Even More And Move Even Faster To Market Responsibly To Our Kids.

We're Gathering A Group Of Women Around The Administration To Serve Over A Longer Period Of Time As Mentors To Girls In Need. If We Can Have That Kind Of Impact In One Night, Just Imagine If We Were Working With Girls Over The Course Of A Year Or Two.... We Can Change Lives.

With This New Initiative, Disney Is Doing What No Major Media Company Has Ever Done Before In The United States. And What I Hope Every Company Will Do Going Forward When It Comes To The Ads They Show And The Food They Sell They're Asking Themselves One Simple Question: Is This Good For Our Kids?

If Farmers And Blacksmiths Could Win Independence From An Empire...if Immigrants Could Leave Behind Everything They Knew For A Better Life On Our Shores...if Women Could Be Dragged To Jail For Seeking The Vote...if A Generation Could Defeat A Depression, And Define Greatness For All Time...if A Young Preacher Could Lift Us To The Mountaintop With His Righteous Dream...and If Proud Americans Can Be Who They Are And Boldly Stand At The Altar With Who They Love...then Surely, Surely We Can Give Everyone In This Country A Fair Chance At That Great American Dream.

We Have Had With Barack Obama Some Just Amazing Experiences Traveling Abroad, Being Able To Introduce Our Children To The World.... I'm Also Humbled By The Response And The Receptiveness, Not Just Here In America, But Around The World. There's A Part Of That Warmth And Enthusiasm And Hope That Is Surprising And Humbling.

I Think The Most Moving Part Of My Trip [to Africa] So Far Was Seeing 92-year-old Nelson Mandela, And Just Thinking About His Life. This Man Has Lived Through A Struggle That Few Nations Have Known.

If Proud Americans Can Be Who They Are And Boldly Stand At The Altar With Who They Love Then Surely, Surely We Can Give Everyone In This Country A Fair Chance At That Great American Dream.

African American Children Are Significantly More Likely To Be Obese Than Are White Children. Nearly Half Of African American Children Will Develop Diabetes At Some Point In Their Lives. People, That's Half Of Our Children. ...we Can Build Our Kids The Best Schools On Earth, But If They Don't Have The Basic Nutrition They Need To Concentrate, They're Still Going To Have A Challenge Learning.

My Dad Was A Pump Operator At The City Water Plant, And He Didn't Earn Much Money. But He Was Determined To Pay Whatever Tiny Part He Owed For My Tuition On Time Every Month. So Even Though He Had Multiple Sclerosis And Often Struggled Just To Get Dressed In The Morning, He Hardly Ever Missed A Day Of Work. His Determination And Love Are An Inspiration To Me Every Day.

I'm Trolling Through The Recesses Of My Mind For The Things I Did With My Kids When They Used To Like To Do Things With Me. They Don't Want To Be Around Me Now. I Look Back On These Times - All Those Little Funny Pottery Dishes That You'd Pay For, And They'd Paint, And They Were Ugly, And You Glazed Them, And You'd Go Back, Pick Them Up, And It's Like, "oh, Now I've Got To Put This On My Desk." There's All That Kind Of Stuff.

It's All About Patience And Persistence - You Often Have To Expose A Child To A New Food Numerous Times Before He Or She Will Begin To Like It. So Keep Trying!

We Can Aim To Create A Culture, Where Kids Ask For Healthy Options Instead Of Resisting Them.

Treat People With Dignity And Respect.

The Work-life Balance Is A Harsh Reality For So Many Women, Who Are Forced Every Day To Make Impossible Choices. Do They Take Their Kids To The Doctor...and Risk Getting Fired? Do They Work Weekends So They Can Afford To Send Their Kids To Better Childcare...even Though It Means Even Less Time With Their Families? Do They Take Another Shift At Work, So They Can Pay For Piano Lessons For Their Kids...even Though It Means They Have To Stop Volunteering For The Pta? It Just Shouldn't Be This Difficult To Raise Healthy Families.

Even If We Give Parents All The Information They Need And We Improve School Meals And Build Brand New Supermarkets On Every Corner, None Of That Matters If When Families Step Into A Restaurant, They Can't Make A Healthy Choice.

Healthy Choices

Being President Isn't Anything Like Reality Tv.

There Are Many Different Ways That A Military Person's Career Can Be Translated.

I Think If I Weren't Married To [barack Obama], I'd Want Him To Be In There.

I've Always Been A Closet Jock. With Exercising, The More You Do It, The More You Get Into It. And The More You See Results, The More You're Pushing For The Next Level.

Every Day, The People I Meet Inspire Me... Every Day, They Make Me Proud... Every Day They Remind Me How Blessed We Are To Live In The Greatest Nation On Earth.

You Shouldn't Be In A Relationship With Somebody Who Doesn't Make You Completely Happy And Make You Feel Whole. And If You're In That Relationship And You're Dating, Then My Advice Is, Don't Get Married.

I Have Never Felt More Confident In Myself, More Clear On Who I Am As A Woman. But I Am Constantly Thinking About My Own Health And Making Sure That I'm Eating Right And Getting Exercise And Watching The Aches And Pains. I Want To Be This Really Fly 80-90-year Old.

I Think Employers Need Help In Understanding How To Translate A Military Career.

We're All Bombarded With So Many Dietary Messages That It's Hard To Find Time To Sort Through All This Information, But We Do Have Time To Take A Look At Our Kids' Plates.

We Need To Do A Better Job Of Putting Ourselves Higher On Our Own 'to Do' List.

That's The Advice I Would Give To Women: Don't Look At The Bankbook Or The Title. Look At The Heart. Look At The Soul. Look At How The Guy Treats His Mother And What He Says About Women. How He Acts With Children He Doesn't Know. And, More Important, How Does He Treat You? When You're Dating A Man, You Should Always Feel Good. You Should Never Feel Less Than. You Should Never Doubt Yourself.

As A Mom, I Know It Is My Responsibility, And No One Else's, To Raise My Kids. But We Have To Ask Ourselves, What Does It Mean When So Many Parents Are Finding Their Best Efforts Undermined By An Avalanche Of Advertisements Aimed At Our Kids.

These Are Things That We Hear From Military Families Everywhere We Go. But It - On Ptsd, The Thing That I Want To Make Sure People Understand Is That The Vast Majority Of Veterans And Military Families Aren't Dealing With Any Kind Of Mental Health. But There Are - These Are What Are Called The Invisible Wounds Of This War. And Many Times They Don't Present.

I Mean, Let's Take The Average Spouse. You Know, You Show Up In An Employer's, You Know, Office, And It's Shown That You've Changed Jobs Every Two Years. Well, To Many Employers That Could Be Viewed As A Red Flag. But The Truth Is, Is That You've Made Those Moves Because You're Serving Your Country, And Each Time You've Found A Career, And You've Been Able To Provide For Your Family, And You've Continued To Volunteer, And On And On And On.

I Love French Fries, I Like A Good Burger, And I Like Pie. And That's Okay. I Would Be Depressed If I Felt I Could Never Eat The Things That I Love. I Also Don't Want My Girls To Be Obsessed About Food. We Don't Have A "no Junk Food" Rule - I Just Want Them To Think About Their Choices.

It Wasn't So Long Ago That I Was A Working Mom Myself. And I Know That Sometimes, Much As We All Hate To Admit It, It's Just Easier To Park The Kids In Front Of The Tv For A Few Hours, So We Can Pay The Bills Or Do The Laundry Or Just Have Some Peace And Quiet For A Change.

Walk Away From 'friendships' That Make You Feel Small And Insecure, And Seek Out People Who Inspire You And Support You

Barack Knows The American Dream Because He's Lived It...and He Wants Everyone In This Country To Have That Same Opportunity, No Matter Who We Are, Or Where We're From, Or What We Look Like, Or Who We Love.

My Sense Is That Being A First Lady Is A Full-time Job, But I'll Know More When The Time Comes.

The Biggest Obstacle Facing Girls Is Education, Education, Education. There Are Too Many Kids Who Think High School Is A Pit Stop To Fame And Fortune. I Want Girls In This Country To Think Education Is The Coolest, Most Important Thing They Could Ever Do In Their Lives.

Over The Years I've Become More Confident In People's Ability To Recognize A Good Thing.

Your Word Is Your Bond, You Do What You Say You're Going To Do.

To Get Kids Involved In Meal Planning And Preparation, Create Games Out Of Trying New Foods, And Provide Ample Opportunities For Physical Activity, Recognizing It May Take Some Time To Find An Activity They Truly Enjoy.

I Try To Be Thoughtful About Spreading The Wealth: Young Designers. Mixing Things Up Is Important To Me.

Child Hunger And Child Obesity Are Really Just Two Sides Of The Same Coin. Both Rob Our Children Of The Energy, The Strength And The Stamina They Need To Succeed In School And In Life. And That, In Turn, Robs Our Country Of So Much Of Their Promise.

And I Love That Even In The Toughest Moments, When We're All Sweating It - When We're Worried That The Bill Won't Pass, And It Seems Like All Is Lost - Barack Never Lets Himself Get Distracted By The Chatter And The Noise. Just Like His Grandmother, He Just Keeps Getting Up And Moving Forward... With Patience And Wisdom, And Courage And Grace.

Childhood Obesity Isn't About Looks. And It's Not About Weight. It's About How Our Kids Feel. And Those Are Really The Implications Of The Problem And The Words That Tell A Fuller Picture Of The Challenges That We Face; You Know, Kids Struggling In Ways That They Didn't A Generation Ago.

Earlier In My College Career, There Was No Doubt In My Mind That As A Member Of The Black Community I Was Somehow Obligated To This Community And Would Utilize All Of My Present And Future Resources To Benefit This Community First And Foremost.

I Am Only As Good As My Children Are.

Elections Aren't Just About Who Votes, But Who Doesn't Vote.

My First Job In All Honesty Is Going To Continue To Be Mom-in-chief. Making Sure That In This Transition, Which Will Be Even More Of A Transition For The Girls... That They Are Settled And That They Know They Will Continue To Be The Center Of Our Universe.

The Issues Facing Working Women And Their Families Are Closest To My Heart. I Decided To Focus Intently On The Challenges Military Wives Face Because They Juggle The Same Pressures As Their Nonmilitary Peers, All While Coping As Single Parents While Their Loved Ones Are Overseas. I Wanted To Help Make Their Voices Heard.

The Arts Can Enrich All Of Us In This Nation As Individuals. The Arts Can Enrich All Of Our Communities And The Country. And The Arts Can Connect Us To Each Other Like Nothing Else Can.

Let Me Tell You Something: For The First Time In My Adult Life, I Am Proud Of My Country, Because It Feels Like Hope Is Finally Making A Comeback.

There Is No Magic To Achievement. It's Really About Hard Work, Choices, And Persistence.

America Is Just Downright Mean.

I'm Not Asking Any Of You To Make Drastic Changes To Every Single One Of Your Recipes Or To Totally Change The Way You Do Business. But What I Am Asking Is That You Consider Reformulating Your Menu In Pragmatic And Incremental Ways To Create Healthier Versions Of The Foods That We All Love.

Fruits And Vegetables For Some Kids Are Scary And Not Fun.

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