“The people of the Middle East share the desire for freedom. We have an opportunity – and an obligation – to help them turn this desire into reality.”

My parents elected me president of the family when I was 4. We actually had an election every year and I always won. I’m an only child, and I could count on my mother’s vote.

If you are overdressed, it is a comment on them. If you are under dressed, it is a comment on you.

My mom was a teacher – I have the greatest respect for the profession – we need great teachers – not poor or mediocre ones.

We need to move beyond the idea that girls can be leaders and create the expectation that they should be leaders.

There is nothing better than being in a classroom with really, really brilliant students, and opening up new worlds to them. That’s what I love doing.

I think that the United States has always been most effective when it is leading both from power and principle.

Truly remarkable leadership is not just about motivating others to follow, it’s about inspiring them to become leaders themselves and setting the stage for even greater opportunities for future generations.

I’ve never really been a workaholic. I work very hard, but I also enjoy playing. I think it’s important to have a balanced and well-rounded life.

I laugh almost everyday. I have a good sense of humor, so I’m always finding something funny.

Today’s headlines and history’s judgement are not the same.

Race is a constant factor in American life. Yet reacting to every incident,real or imagined, is crippling, tiring, and ultimately counterproductive.

If I can look at your zip code and I can tell whether you’re going to get a good education, we’ve got a real problem.

You have to have a strong sense of your values and a strong sense of who you are, because there are a lot of events and a lot of people who will pull you in this direction or that direction.

I think America is still a bright, shining city on the hill – not because we’re perfect but because we struggle in our imperfections every day.

Out of struggle very often comes victory.

Defeating human trafficking is a great moral calling of our time.

Almost all our desires, when examined, contain something too shameful to reveal.

Don’t fool yourself, my dear. You’re much worse than a bitch. You’re a saint. Which shows why saints are dangerous and undesirable.

All people on the planet are children, except for a very few. No one is grown up except those free of desire.

You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.

Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way.

Education is teaching our children to desire the right things.

Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.