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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.

-Michelle Obama

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We Have Had With

Michelle Obama

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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.

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More From Michelle Obama

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

Slowly But Surely, We're Beginning To Turn The Tide On Childhood Obesity In America. Together, We Are Inspiring Leaders From Every Sector To Take Ownership Of This Issue.

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.

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 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 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.

African American

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'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.

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

No, I Think That If He Had Known He Would Be President, He Would Have Started Dying His Hair, Like, 10 Years Ago. Now It's Too Late.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

New Years Resolution

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

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 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.

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?

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.

Treat People With Dignity And Respect.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

He’s Always Asking: ‘is That New? I Haven’t Seen That Before.’ It’s Like, Why Don’t You Mind Your Own Business? Solve World Hunger. Get Out Of My Closet.

Mind Your Own Business

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.

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

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

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.

As Women, We Cannot Afford To Neglect Ourselves.

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.

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.

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?

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Start, As Parents, With Yourselves, Number One.

Politics Is A Waste Of Time.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Find People Who Will Make You Better.

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.

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.

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

Inspirational Life

I Come Here Tonight As A Sister, Blessed With A Brother Who Is My Mentor, My Protector And My Lifelong Friend. And I Come Here As A Wife Who Loves My Husband And Believes He Will Be An Extraordinary President.

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

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

We Have To Design Policies That Have Meaningful Impacts On The Quality Of Life Of Women And Families. And That's Something That I Know I Can Speak Passionately About Because Whether I'm In The White House As First Lady, As Long As I Have Kids And I'm Trying To Have A Life, I'm Gonna Be Trying To Make This Balance Work...

Childhood Obesity Issue Is Critically Important To Me Because It's Critically Important To The Health And Success Of Our Kids, And Of This Nation, Ultimately.

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

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.

There's No Expert On This Planet Who Says That The Government Telling People What To Do Actually Does Any Good With This Issue, This Is Going To Require An Effort On Everyone's Part.

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.

Barack Knows That We Are Going To Have To Make Sacrifices; We Are Going To Have To Change Our Conversation; We're Going To Have To Change Our Traditions, Our History; We're Going To Have To Move Into A Different Place.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

I've Always Tried To Make Sure That What I Do Really Connects With The Broader Agenda Of What My Husband Is Trying To Do.

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

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.

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

We've Got A Responsibility To Live Up To The Legacy Of Those Who Came Before Us By Doing All That We Can To Help Those Who Come After Us.

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.

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.

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

African American

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 Think Any Family Would, Any Mother Would Their Children.

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

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 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.

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.

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?

Be Passionate About Something And Lean To That Strength.

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."

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

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.

Do Not Ever Let Anyone Make You Feel Like You Don't Matter, Or Like You Don't Have A Place In Our American Story - Because You Do.

I Look At How My Kids View Exercise. They Have A Complete Understanding That Nutrition And Exercise Go Hand In Hand. I Didn't Think Like That When I Was A Kid. But They Have A Real Consciousness About It That I'd Like To Think Comes From The Years Of Attention We've Put Into This.

This Year, 1.7 Million Young People Will Be Participating In Olympic And Paralympic Sports In Their Communities-many Of Them For The Very First Time. And That Is So Important, Because Sometimes All It Takes Is That First Lesson, Or Clinic, Or Class To Get A Child Excited About A New Sport. This Summer, Together With Our Children, We Can Support Team Usa Not Just By Cheering Them On, But By Striving To Live Up To The Example They Set.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

It's All About, You Know, Continuing To Get To Know Ourselves In A Very Diverse And Complicated Country That Is America. It Is A Wonderful Place To Live. But Because It Is So Diverse, Our Challenges Are Complex.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

Value Everyone's Contribution And Treat Everyone With Respect.

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.

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.

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.

We Have To Remember That It's Usually Women Who Are Making The Health Care Decisions For Their Families.... True Equality Would Mean Making Sure That There's Equity In Terms Of How Insurance Reimburses Certain Procedures; Making Sure That We Have Preventative Care That's Covered So Women Can Get Their Mammograms And Pap Screens Without Extra Charges.

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'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.

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

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.

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 In The End, I Want To Make Sure That My Kids Come Out Of This Thing On The Other End In One Piece. But I Also Know That That's How The Rest Of The Country Feels As Well, So For That I Am Grateful.

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.

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.

If I Can Have Any Impact, I Want Women To Feel Good About Themselves And Have Fun With Fashion

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'

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

Decisions You Make

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.

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

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

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.

I Am Only As Good As My Children Are.

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.

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.

People Want To Feel Hopeful.

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

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

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

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.

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

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