“Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life’s blood . . . but everyone has something to give.”

You can’t tell a 6-year-old your sister is going to die.

If you are the wife of a governor or the wife of a vice president, I think you can be prepared for it.

I hate the fact that people think compromise is a dirty word.

I’m not a competitive person, and I think women like me because they don’t think I’m competitive, just nice.

The darn trouble with cleaning the house is it gets dirty the next day anyway, so skip a week if you have to. The children are the most important thing.

I’m not being outspoken or pro or con abortion.

Why be afraid of what people will say? Those who care about you will say, Good luck! and those who care only about themselves will never say anything worth listening to anyway.

Bias has to be taught. If you hear your parents downgrading women or people of different backgrounds, why, you are going to do that.

I’m tired now of the elections.

The First Lady is going to be criticized no matter what she does.

You get nothing done if you don’t listen to each other.

The state dinner is almost a formula, but you try to make it interesting. You try not to overload it with too many political types. You try to get a cross section.

To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.

Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family.

Where will our country find leaders with integrity, courage, strength-all the family values-in ten, twenty, or thirty years? The answer is that you are teaching them, loving them, and raising them right now.

Show me a wife who doesn’t offer advice and I’ll show you one who doesn’t care very much.