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

-Michelle Obama

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Today Jazz Music Is

Michelle Obama

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

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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.

Kids Who Participate In School Meal Programs Get Roughly Half Of Their Calories Each Day At School. ... This Is An Extraordinary Responsibility. But It's Also An Opportunity. And It's Why One Of The Single Most Important Things We Can Do To Fight Childhood Obesity Is To Make Those Meals At School As Healthy And Nutritious As Possible.

I Tell My Kids, 'i Am Thinking About You Every Other Minute Of My Day.'

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.

Let Girls Learn Issue Has Always Been Personal For Me. I Grew Up In A Working-class Neighborhood On The South Side Of Chicago Where Most Folks, Including My Parents, Didn't Have College Degrees. But With A Lot Of Hard Work - And A Lot Of Financial Aid - I Had The Chance To Attend Princeton And Harvard Law School, And That Gave Me The Confidence To Pursue My Ambitions.

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

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

As Women, We Cannot Afford To Neglect Ourselves.

Value Everyone's Contribution And Treat Everyone With Respect.

My Experiences At Princeton Have Made Me Far More Aware Of My 'blackness' Than Ever Before. I Have Found That At Princeton, No Matter How Liberal And Open-minded Some Of My White Professors And Classmates Try To Be Toward Me, I Sometimes Feel Like A Visitor On Campus; As If I Really Don't Belong.

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!

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.

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

Good Relationship

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.

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.

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

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.

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'

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

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.

Politics Is A Waste Of Time.

The Truth Is, In Order To Get Things Like Universal Health Care And A Revamped Education System, Then Someone Is Going To Have To Give Up A Piece Of Their Pie So That Someone Else Can Have More.

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 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.

For The First Time, The Nation Will Have Goals, Benchmarks, And Measureable Outcomes That Will Help Us Tackle The Childhood Obesity Epidemic One Child, One Family, And One Community At A Time.

Obesity Epidemic

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

But We Need A Medical Community That's Trained And Knowledgeable And Working On Advancement.

If I Point To Anything That Makes Me Who I Am, It's That I Have A Whole Lot Of Common Sense. I've Got A Good Mind And A Good Ability To Read People And Situations.

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

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

Communities And Countries And Ultimately The World Are Only As Strong As The Health Of Their Women.

And That's My Message To Voters, This Isn't About Barack, It's Not About Person On That Ballot -- Its About You. And For Most Of The People We Are Talking To [blacks], A Democratic Ticket Is The Clear Ticket That We Should Be Voting On, Regardless Of Who Said What Or Did This -- That Shouldn't Even Come Into The Equation.

I Want To Feel Like The Things I Did Made A Difference. That's One Of The Reasons I Spend Time Greeting People On Rope Lines, Because I'm Always Thinking, 'maybe This Interaction, Particularly If I'm Meeting Kids, Will Change Someone's Life.' That's How I Think About The Work I Do As First Lady. It's A Rare Spotlight. I Want To Make Sure I Don't Waste It.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

It's Always Positive To Hear How Many People Are Willing To Step Up - Whether It Is The Employment Community, Mental Health Community, Or Medical Community.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

My Goal Is To Be A Great-looking 70-year-old! I Won't Mind Being 70, But I Want People To Say, "you're 70?"

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.

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.

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

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.

Every Thanksgiving, Barack Sits Down To Call Some Of Our Troops And Thank Them For Their Service. When He Tells Me About These Conversations, It Always Reminds Me Of How Blessed We Are To Live In A Country Where Men And Women Will Stand Up To Protect Our Freedoms And Preserve Our Way Of Life. And Whenever I've Had The Chance To Meet With These Heroes And Their Families, I've Always Walked Away Inspired By Their Courage And In Awe Of Their Strength.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Good Health Is Multifaceted - It's Physical, It's Internal, It's My Diet, And My Emotional State. It's All Tied In Together.

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

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.

We're Starting To See, As The Economy Improves, That The Unemployment Rate Among Veterans And Military Spouses - We're Seeing Some Improvement In Those Numbers. And That's A Good Thing.

Fortunately, We Have Help From The Media. I Have To Say This: I'm Very Grateful For The Support And Kindness That We've Gotten. People Have Respected Their Privacy And In That Way, I Think, You Know, No Matter What People May Feel About My Husband's Policies Or What Have You, They Care About Children And That's Been Good To See.

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.

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

New Years Resolution

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

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.

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

Being President Isn't Anything Like Reality Tv.

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

You Work Hard For What You Want In Life.

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

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.

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.

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."

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.

Discriminating Against Same-sex Couples Just Isn't Right.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

The Benefits Of Studying Abroad Are Almost Endless.

And The First Thing We Have To Do Is Vote. Hey, No, Not Just Once In A While. Not Just When My Husband Or Somebody You Like Is On The Ballot. But In Every Election At Every Level, All Of The Time.

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

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.

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.

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 Admit It: I Am Louder Than The Average Human Being And Have No Fear Of Speaking My Mind. These Traits Don't Come From The Color Of My Skin But From An Unwavering Belief In My Own Intelligence.

Speaking My Mind

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.

Moving [to The White House], Whatever Stresses Would Be On My Husband And Me, We Could Handle; We Are Grown-ups. But It Wouldn't Be Until The Day That My Kids Came Home And Said To Me, "i Like It Here," That I'd Feel Like I Could Breathe And Know That We're All Going To Be Okay Here.

My Most Important Title Is Mom In Chief

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.

Truly 1 Percent Of This Country Serves And Protects The Freedoms Of The Other 99 Percent Of Us, So Many Of Us Don't Have That Connection. Fortunately, Jill Biden Does. She's A Blue-star Mom. Their Son Was In The National Guard - Or Is In The - In - Is A Reservist.

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.

When I Was Little, I Wanted To Be A Mother, Because That's Who I Saw. I Saw My Mom Caring For Me. I Didn't Play Doctor. I Didn't Play Lawyer. I Didn't Have Those Visions Until I Was In College, Meeting People Who Were Doing Those Things. That's Why We're Trying To Encourage Moms, Teachers, Fathers, To Be That Presence In Their Children's Lives, In Their Communities, Because It Really Makes A Difference.

Being Healthy Isn't About Inches, Pounds, Or How Kids Look - It's About How They Feel And Making Sure They Feel Good About Themselves. So Rather Than Focusing On Appearance, It's Important To Emphasize To Kids That When We Eat Healthy Food And Stay Active, We Feel Better, And We Can Perform Better In Everything We Do, From Athletics To Academics.

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 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.

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

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

And In My Own Life, In My Own Small Way, I've Tried To Give Back To This Country That Has Given Me So Much. That's Why I Left A Job At A Law Firm For A Career In Public Service, Working To Empower Young People To Volunteer In Their Communities. Because I Believe That Each Of Us - No Matter What Our Age Or Background Or Walk Of Life - Each Of Us Has Something To Contribute To The Life Of This Nation.

I Think Any Family Would, Any Mother Would Their Children.

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

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

When I Get Up And Work Out, I'm Working Out Just As Much For My Girls As I Am For Me, Because I Want Them To See A Mother Who Loves Them Dearly, Who Invests In Them, But Who Also Invests In Herself. It's Just As Much About Letting Them Know As Young Women That It Is Okay To Put Yourself A Little Higher On Your Priority List.

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.

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.

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.

I Am Desperate For Change - Now - Not In 8 Years Or 12 Years, But Right Now.

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.

The President's Job Is A Lot Harder. And That's Why I'm Working Hard To Get Him Re-elected, Because He's Handled Himself With A Level Of Grace And Poise That Not Many People Could Given The Challenges That He's Faced.

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

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

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

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.

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.

Hope And Change Are Hard-fought Things.

Hope And Change

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

Choose People Who Lift You Up.

Inspirational Life

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My Happiness Is Tied To How I Feel About Myself.

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

I Joke That I Stick With The Job Because It Covers My Insurance, But The Reality Is That My Career Has Always Been Very Important To Me.

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.

It's Important For Us Not To Lose Sight Of The Fact That This Is A Family That's Grieving And There's Been A Tremendous Loss. And We All Have To Rally Around That Piece Of It.

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.

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

Start, As Parents, With Yourselves, Number One.

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

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.

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.

And I Come Here As A Daughter, Raised On The South Side Of Chicago - By A Father Who Was A Blue-collar City Worker And A Mother Who Stayed At Home With My Brother And Me.

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

You Can't Make Decisions Based On Fear And The Possibility Of What Might Happen.

Decisions You Make

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

That's Where You Just Have To Get Creative. There Are All These Trampoline Parks And There's Bowling And There's Roller Skating.

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.

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.

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.

To Me, With Age, Everything Has Gotten Better. You Have Way More Control; You Know Yourself Better.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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'm Not A Big Fan Of Young Kids Having Facebook. It's Not Something They Need. It's Not Necessary.

Barack Puts On His Suit And Tie [and] He's Out The Door — I'm Getting My Hair, Makeup, The Kids, I Gotta Brush Their Hair. You Know, He's Always Looking Like 'where Are You? Where Are You Going?' But Yeah, You Know — It's Fun To Look Pretty.

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.

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.

My Role Models Were The People In My Life. My Mom, For Sure. My Dad. The Teachers. For Me, Role-modeling Was Immediate, It Was Touchable. It Was Rare For Me To Idolize A Movie Star Or A Singer...because, Truly, Children Connect With Who Is In Their Lives, Present And Accounted For.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

We Learned About Gratitude And Humility - That So Many People Had A Hand In Our Success, From The Teachers Who Inspired Us To The Janitors Who Kept Our School Clean... And We Were Taught To Value Everyone's Contribution And Treat Everyone With Respect.

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

Stay True To Yourself

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

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.

I Tell This To My Girls All The Time: This Journey We're On Is A Once - In - A - Lifetime Opportunity.

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