Background Image

...

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.

-Michelle Obama

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

And Let's Be Clear:

Michelle Obama

...

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.

Views: 6

Topic

More From Michelle Obama

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

Hope And Change Are Hard-fought Things.

Hope And Change

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.

And Then There's This Guy, Barack Obama, Who Lost - I Could Take Up A Whole Afternoon Talking About His Failures, But - He Lost His First Race For Congress, And Now He Gets To Call Himself My Husband.

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.

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 See, At The End Of The Day, My Most Important Title Is Still 'mom-in-chief.' My Daughters Are Still The Heart Of My Heart And The Center Of My World.

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.

I Try To Tell Young People To Get In Shape Now, Because It's Easier. If You're 30 And Want To Drop 10 Pounds, All You Have To Do Is Just Walk.

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.

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.

You Know, You Have To Start With Hope...you Don't Get Anywhere In This Country Without Hope. So It's A Necessity. What Barack Says Is That People Have To Understand Hope Isn't Just Blind Optimism. It Isn't Passive. It Isn't Just Sitting There Waiting For Things To Get Better. Hope Is The Vision That You Have To Have. It's The Inspiration That Moves People Into Action...there Are More People Engaged In This Political Process In This Year Than We've Seen In My Lifetime. And It Is All Because Of Hope Because People Believe In The Possibility Of Something Unseen.

I Am An Example Of What Is Possible When Girls From The Very Beginning Of Their Lives Are Loved And Nurtured By People Around Them. I Was Surrounded By Extraordinary Women In My Life Who Taught Me About Quiet Strength And Dignity.

I Am Only As Good As My Children Are.

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

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.

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

African American

I Was An Incredibly Devoted Student, And I Would Often Wake Up At 4 Or 5 In The Morning To Study. But Even So, There Were Still People Who Thought That A Girl Like Me With A Background Like Mine Wasn't Really "college Material."

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.

It Is My Hope That Our Garden's Story-and The Stories Of Gardens Across America-will Inspire Families, Schools, And Communities To Try Their Own Hand At Gardening And Enjoy All The Gifts Of Health, Discovery, And Connection A Garden Can Bring.

After I Got Out Of Law School And Worked In A Big Law Firm, I Thought, There Are So Many Kids Like Me, In My Neighborhood, That Could Be Here If They Had More Support From Their Families, Better Financial Aid. But The Gap Is So Wide Once You Miss That Opportunity. So I Was Always Interested In Figuring Out, How Do You Bridge That? I Felt, As A Lawyer, When I Was Mentoring And Working With Kids, That I Gained A Level Of Groundedness That I Just Couldn't Get Sitting On The Forty-seventh Floor Of A Fancy Firm.

Some Kids Have Never Seen What A Real Tomato Looks Like Off The Vine. They Don't Know Where A Cucumber Comes From. And That Really Affects The Way They View Food. So A Garden Helps Them Really Get Their Hands Dirty, Literally, And Understand The Whole Process Of Where Their Food Comes From. And I Wanted Them To See Just How Challenging And Rewarding It Is To Grow Your Own Food, So That They Would Better Understand What Our Farmers Are Doing Every Single Day Across This Country And Have An Appreciation For ... That American Tradition Of Growing Our Own Food And Feeding Ourselves.

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

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.

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

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

We Can All Agree That In The Wealthiest Nation On Earth, All Children Should Have The Basic Nutrition They Need To Learn And Grow And To Pursue Their Dreams, Because In The End, Nothing Is More Important Than The Health And Well-being Of Our Children... These Are The Basic Values That We All Share, Regardless Of Race, Party, Religion. This Is What We Share. These Are The Values That This Bill Embodies.

Cute's Good. But Cute Only Lasts For So Long, And Then It's, 'who Are You As A Person?' Don't Look At The Bankbook Or The Title. Look At The Heart. Look At The Soul. When You're Dating A Man, You Should Always Feel Good. ... You Shouldn't Be In A Relationship With Somebody Who Doesn't Make You Completely Happy And Make You Feel Whole.

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.

Choose People Who Lift You Up.

Inspirational Life

I Was Too Worried About The Grades And I Should Have Been More Worried About Learning.

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

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.

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.

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

Barack Didn't Pledge Riches, Only A Life That Would Be Interesting. On That Promise He Delivered.

Be Passionate About Something And Lean To That Strength.

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

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

Believe It Or Not, When We Were First Married, Our Combined Monthly Student Loan Bills Were Actually Higher Than Our Mortgage.

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.

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

I Think That Mentoring Is Such A Critical Part Of The Role I Can Play In My 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.

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

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.

People Want To Feel Hopeful.

Whether An Illness Affects Your Heart, Your Leg Or Your Brain, It's Still An Illness, And There Should Be No Distinction.

Start, As Parents, With Yourselves, Number One.

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.

The Physical And Emotional Health Of An Entire Generation And The Economic Health And Security Of Our Nation Is At Stake. This Isn’t The Kind Of Problem That Can Be Solved Overnight, But With Everyone Working Together, It Can Be Solved. So, Let’s Move.

Working Together

I've Seen Firsthand That Being President Doesn't Change Who You Are. It Reveals Who You Are.

We Have To Make Sure That Our Kids Still Feel Good About Themselves No Matter What Their Weight, No Matter How They Feel. We Need To Make Sure That Our Kids Know That We Love Them No Matter Who They Are, What They Look Like, What They're Eating.

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 Had The Honor Of Meeting A Young Pakistani Woman Named Malala Yousafzai, Who Was Shot And Nearly Killed Just For Trying To Go To School. I Also Heard About How Nearly 300 Girls In Nigeria Were Kidnapped From Their School Dorms In The Middle Of The Night. There Are Girls Like This In Every Corner Of The Globe. In Fact, There Are More Than 62 Million Girls Worldwide Not Attending School, And That's An Outrage.

As Women, We Cannot Afford To Neglect Ourselves.

There Is Nothing More Important To This Nation's Future Than Investing In Our Young People.

If My Future Were Determined Just By My Performance On A Standardized Test, I Wouldn't Be Here. I Guarantee You That.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

In Our House We Don't Take Ourselves Too Seriously, And Laughter Is The Best Form Of Unity, I Think, In A Marriage.

We Need To Support Mary Burke For Governor!

I Have The Privilege Of Working On The Issues That I Choose And The Issues That I Feel Most Passionate About. It's Been A Privilege.

Always Stay True To Yourself And Never Let What Somebody Says Distract You From Your Goals.

Stay True To Yourself

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

Good Relationship

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.

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.

Oh, I Can't Play Soccer, And I'm Not A Great Swimmer. I Won't Drown, But You Won't See Me Doing Laps In A Pool.

It's Been So Important That The Chamber Of Commerce, For Example, Has Hosted Hiring Fairs That Are Specifically Targeted To Military Communities.

One Of The Things That Attracted Me To Barack [obama] Was His Emotional Honesty. Right Off The Bat He Said What He Felt. There Are No Games With Him - He Is Who He Appears To Be.

Hope Is Necessary. It's A Necessary Concept. And Barack Obama Didn't Just Talk About Hope Because He Thought It Was Just A Nice Slogan To Get Votes.

What I Tell My Kids Is, I’m Preparing You For College And For Life. So, Having Independence, Knowing How To Set Your Own Boundaries, Figuring Out How To Make That Balance. We Still Have Screen Time Rules.

At The End Of The Day, When It Comes Time To Make That Decision, As President, All You Have To Guide You Are Your Values, And Your Vision, And The Life Experiences That Make You Who You Are.

The End Of The Day

I Was Not Raised With Wealth Or Resources Or Any Social Standing To Speak Of.

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.

Women And Girls Can Do Whatever They Want. There Is No Limit To What We As Women Can Accomplish.

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.

My Husband And I Make Physical Activity A Priority In Our Lives, And Our Daughters Love Being Active As Well. And While We Each Have Sports And Activities We Enjoy, We Try To Go For Hikes Or Bike Rides Together Whenever We Get The Chance. We've Found That The Best Way To Help Our Girls Be Active Is To Find Activities They Truly Enjoy.

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.

Exercise Is Really Important To Me - It's Therapeutic. So If I'm Ever Feeling Tense Or Stressed Or Like I'm About To Have A Meltdown, I'll Put On My Ipod And Head To The Gym Or Out On A Bike Ride Along Lake Michigan With The Girls.

Service Is A Limitless Opportunity, It Is The Reason Why We Breathe.

Sometimes The Issue Is About Whether Families And Communities Think Girls Are Even Worthy Of An Education In The First Place. It's About Whether Girls Are Valued Only For Their Labor And Reproductive Capacities Or For Their Minds As Well. And It's About Whether Women Are Viewed As Second-class Citizens Or As Full Human Beings Entitled To The Same Rights And Opportunities As Men.

Value Everyone's Contribution And Treat Everyone With Respect.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Not Everybody Is Going To Run A Marathon Or Do A Triathlon. It's Not Necessary To Do That To Be In Good Health.

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

I Know What It Feels Like To Struggle To Get The Education That You Need.

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.

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

I've Seen How The Issues That Come Across A President's Desk Are Always The Hard Ones - The Problems Where No Amount Of Data Or Numbers Will Get You To The Right Answer.

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.

It Should Be Fun Introducing Kids To Fruits And Vegetables. If You Start Young, It Will Be Something That They'll Attach To Really Quickly.

For The First Time In My Adult Lifetime, I Am Really Proud Of My Country. And Not Just Because Barack Has Done Well, But Because I Think People Are Hungry For Change. And I Have Been Desperate To See Our Country Moving In That Direction.

When I Was Younger, I Could Eat Whatever I Wanted, As Long As I Exercised; Or If I Didn't Exercise And Just Watched What I Ate, I'd Maintain. Now I Have To Do Both.

Barack And I Have Been In The Public Eye For Many Years Now, And We've Developed A Thick Skin Along The Way. When You're Out Campaigning, There Will Always Be Criticism. I Just Take It In Stride, And At The End Of The Day, I Know That It Comes With The Territory.

Wounded Warriors Tell Me They're Not Just Going To Walk Again, They're Going To Run, And They're Going To Run Marathons!

The Benefits Of Studying Abroad Are Almost Endless.

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.

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.

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.

And That's Why The President Has Asked The Entire Government To Step Up, On His Part. I Mean, There's - There Are Things That The Private Sector Needs To Do; There Are Things That The Government Needs To Do.

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.

I Always Want To Be On The Cusp Of Being In The Best Shape That I Can Be.

One Of The Things I've Done Personally Is Bring My Girlfriends Into My Health And Fitness Journeys.

Politics Is A Waste Of Time.

You Have To Practice Success. Success Doesn't Just Show Up. If You Aren't Practicing Success Today, You Won't Wake Up In 20 Years And Be Successful, Because You Won't Have Developed The Habits Of Success, Which Are Small Things Like Finishing What You Start, Putting A Lot Of Effort Into Everything You Do, Being On Time, Treating People Well.

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.

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

As Always, Many Of Our Troops Are Far From Home This [christmas] Time Of Year, And Their Families Are Serving And Sacrificing Right Along With Them. Their Courage And Dedication Allow The Rest Of Us To Enjoy This Season. That's Why We've Tried To Serve Them As Well As They've Served This Country.

People Are Always Going To Have Opinions, And People Have A Right To Their Opinions.

I Come Here Today As A Christian, A Person Of Faith Who Believes We've All Been Called To Serve Our Fellow Men And Women And To Honor God's Creation. We Want Our Girls To Know Right From Wrong, To Always Tell The Truth, To Treat People No Matter Who They Are With Dignity And Respect, No Matter How Different They May Seem...because We Want Our Girls To Know We Are All God's Children And There's So Much More That Unites Than Divides Us.

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.

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.

The President [barack Obama] Asked For A Commitment Of, I Think, 100,000 Jobs For Veterans And Military Spouses Over The Next Couple Of Years. And We Announced During The Tour Last Week That We Have Gotten More Than 60,000 Jobs, And We're Well On Our Way To Just Crashing That Goal Out Of The Water, Because What Businesses Are Understanding Is That These Men And Women Are Some Of The Most Highly Trained Resources That We Have In This Country.

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.

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

Even My Husband Is Happier When I'm Happy. He Has Always Said, "you Figure Out What You Want To Do," Because He's Discovered That Personal Happiness Is Connected To Everything.

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.

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.

Barack Is One Of The Smartest People You Will Ever Encounter Who Will Deign To Enter This Messy Thing Called Politics.

We Can Make A Commitment To Promote Vegetables And Fruits And Whole Grains On Every Part Of Every Menu. We Can Make Portion Sizes Smaller And Emphasize Quality Over Quantity. And We Can Help Create A Culture - Imagine This - Where Our Kids Ask For Healthy Options Instead Of Resisting Them.

Women Should Have The Freedom To Do Whatever They Need To Do To Feel Good About Themselves.

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.

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

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

Childhood Obesity Isn't Some Simple, Discrete Issue. There's No One Cause We Can Pinpoint. There's No One Program We Can Fund To Make It Go Away. Rather, It's An Issue That Touches On Every Aspect Of How We Live And How We Work.

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

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.

I Didn't Just Start With ...local City Officials Because I Knew That They Would Understand The Problem. I Started With Them Because I Knew That Our Cities, Towns And Counties Would Be A Key Part Of The Solution To This Issue. ...there Is No One-size-fits All Policy Or Program That Can Solve This Problem. And Washington Certainly Does Not Have All The Answers. Instead, Many Of The Best, Most Innovative, Most Effective Solutions Start In Our City Halls And Our Towns And Our County Councils.

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.

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.

Barack Obama Was Always Special, You Know? And Not Special, Like, He's Gonna Be Important, He's Gonna Be President. He Was Special In Terms Of His Honesty, His Sincerity, His Compassion For Other People.

One Thing I Want To Clarify - That Every Service Member, Veteran, Wants Us To Remember - Is That The Vast Majority Of People Returning From Service Come Back Completely Healthy. But When We Do Come Across Someone Who Is Struggling. We Have To Develop A Culture Of Open Arms And Acceptance So That They Feel Comfortable Saying, "i'm A Veteran. And By The Way, I Need Little Help." This Is Something We Need To Do In This Country Around Mental Health As A Whole - Destigmatizing Mental Health.

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.

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

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?

Every Elected Official On This Planet Should Understand - Don't Play With Our Children, Don't Do It.

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.

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.

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.

Success Doesn’t Count Unless You Earn It Fair And Square.

I Can Make Choices That Make Me Happy, And It Will Ripple And Benefit My Kids, My Husband, And My Physical Health. That's Hard For Women To Own; We're Not Taught To Do That.

We As Parents Are Our Children's First And Best Role Models, And This Is Particularly True When It Comes To Their Health. ...we Can't Lie Around On The Couch Eating French Fries And Candy Bars And Expect Our Kids To Eat Carrots And Run Around The Block.

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.

You Work Hard For What You Want In Life.

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

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.

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

Doing The Impossible Is The History Of This Nation. It Is How This Country Was Built

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.

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

We Were So Young, So In Love, And So In Debt.

Being President Isn't Anything Like Reality Tv.

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.

Women In Particular Need To Keep An Eye On Their Physical And Mental Health, Because If We're Scurrying To And From Appointments And Errands, We Don't Have A Lot Of Time To Take Care Of Ourselves. We Need To Do A Better Job Of Putting Ourselves Higher On Our Own 'to Do' List.

Since We Started The Let's Move! Initiative, I've Been Looking For As Many Ways As Possible To Help Families And Kids Lead Healthier Lives. And I've Come To Realize That If We Were Going To Take Just One Step To Make Ourselves And Our Families Healthier, Probably The Single Best Thing We Could Do Is To Simply Drink More Water. It's As Simple As That. Drink More Water.

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.

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.

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.

The Fact Is, With Every Friendship You Make, And Every Bond Of Trust You Establish, You Are Shaping The Image Of America Projected To The Rest Of The World. That Is So Important. So When You Study Abroad, You're Actually Helping To Make America Stronger.

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

My Most Important Title Is Mom In Chief

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

Inspirational Life

See, That's Why Barack's Running: To End The War In Iraq Responsibly - To Build An Economy That Lifts Every Family, To Make Sure Health Care Is Available For Every American - And To Make Sure That Every Child In This Nation Has A World-class Education All The Way From Preschool To College.

An Educational Foundation Is Only Part Of The Equation. In Order For Creativity To Flourish And Imagination To Take Hold, We Also Need To Expose Our Children To The Arts From A Very Young Age.

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.

My Kids Are Normal. If They Could Eat Burgers And Fries And Ice Cream Every Day, They Would. And So Would I. But That Doesn't Sustain Us.

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'

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

When I Hear About Negative And False Attacks, I Really Don't Invest Any Energy In Them, Because I Know Who I Am.

Investing In Girls' Education Is The Very Best Thing We Can Do, Not Just For Our Daughters And Granddaughters, But For Their Families, Their Communities, And Their Countries.

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.

One Of The Lessons That I Grew Up With Was To Always Stay True To Yourself And Never Let What Somebody Else Says Distract You From Your Goals. And So When I Hear About Negative And False Attacks, I Really Don't Invest Any Energy In Them, Because I Know Who I Am.

The Arts And Humanities Define Who We Are As A People. That Is Their Power -- To Remind Us Of What We Each Have To Offer, And What We All Have In Common. To Help Us Understand Our History And Imagine Our Future. To Give Us Hope In The Moments Of Struggle And To Bring Us Together When Nothing Else Will.

Every Day, Through Engagement In The Arts, Our Children Learn To Open Their Imagination, To Dream Just A Little Bigger And To Strive Every Day To Reach Those Dreams.

Ultimately This Issue Is On Us. We're The Ones Who Make The Decisions About What Our Kids Eat.

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.

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

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.

Know That America Belongs To You, To All Of You.

Every Girl, No Matter Where She Lives, Deserves The Opportunity To Develop The Promise Inside Of Her.

Millions Of Americans Who Know That Barack Understands Their Dreams; That Barack Will Fight For People Like Them; And That Barack Will Finally Bring The Change We Need.

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.

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.

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 Know What Makes Me Happy. I Pick The Clothes That Make Me Happy - Sometimes People Like Them, Sometimes They Don't. I Try To Listen To My Own Internal Guide.

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.

To Be A Good Parent, You Need To Take Care Of Yourself So That You Can Have The Physical And Emotional Energy To Take Care Of Your Family.

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.

My Happiness Is Tied To How I Feel About Myself.

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.

There's So Much Going On In The Healthcare System That Makes It Difficult For Women To Really Have A Strong Economic Hold If Insurance Is Always An Issue.

I Love That We Can Trust Barack To Do What He Says He's Going To Do, Even When It's Hard - Especially When It's Hard.

Trending Author

Jonathan Brandis

Marian Wright Edelman

Reinhold Niebuhr

Category