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Quotes by First-lady
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
132
"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence."
75
"Dear God, please take care of your servant John Fitzgerald Kennedy."
60
"I had 3 brothers, 2 died early, and one of them was living a good long time."
57
"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
56
"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through."
52
"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan."
51
"We are coming back just four years from today."
51
"To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there."
49
"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect."
49
"Bias has to be taught. If you hear your parents downgrading women or people of different backgrounds, why, you are going to do that."
49
"I want minimum information given with maximum politeness."
47
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.'"
47
"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."
46
"You just don't luck into things as much as you'd like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities."
Luck,
46
"One thing I can say about George... he may not be able to keep a job, but he's not boring."
45
"Today is the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again."
45
"The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship."
45
"Whenever I was upset by something in the papers, Jack always told me to be more tolerant, like a horse flicking away flies in the summer."
45
"I have sacrificed everything in my life that I consider precious to advance the political career of my husband."
45
"The independent girl is a person before whose wrath only the most rash dare stand, and, they, it must be confessed, with much fear and trembling."
44
"You may think the president is all-powerful, but he is not. He needs a lot of guidance from the Lord."
44
"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."
44
"I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision."
44
"You don't just luck into things as much as you would like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it is friendships or opportunities."
Luck,
43
"Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them."
43
"I am accordingly ready; I have pressed as many Cabinet papers into trunks as to fill one carriage; our private property must be sacrificed, as it is impossible to procure wagons for its transportation."
42
"I think somehow we learn who we really are and then live with that decision."
42
"Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both."
41
"I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall."
Bed,
40
"You may invite the entire 35th Division to your wedding if you want to. I guess it's going to be yours as well as mine. We might as well have the church full while we are at it."
40
"And now, dear sister, I must leave this house or the retreating army will make me a prisoner in it by filling up the road I am directed to take."
40
"Believe in something larger than yourself... get involved in the big ideas of your time."
40
"You can never really live anyone else's life, not even your child's. The influence you exert is through your own life, and what you've become yourself."
40
"Any committee is only as good as the most knowledgeable, determined and vigorous person on it. There must be somebody who provides the flame."
39
"It is not more vacation we need - it is more vocation."
39
"Only a man's character is the real criterion of worth."
39
"If human beings are perceived as potentials rather than problems, as possessing strengths instead of weaknesses, as unlimited rather that dull and unresponsive, then they thrive and grow to their capabilities."
38
"It is done... the precious portrait placed in the hands of the gentlemen for safe keeping."
38
"Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people - your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way."
38
"Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others."
38
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
38
"I won't lock my doors or bar them either if any of the old coots in the pictures out in the hall want to come out of their frames for a friendly chat."
37
"There is nothing more important than a good, safe, secure home."
37
"Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid."
36
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