“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.”

America’s still a very, very powerful symbol and a very important place of leadership for the world.

We’re in a new world. We’re in a world in which the possibility of terrorism, married up with technology, could make us very, very sorry that we didn’t act.

Every good leader is part manager and every good manager is part leader.

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.

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.

It was my teacher’s genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of my education so beautiful.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

One of the best investments we can make in a child’s life is high-quality early education.

Wit is educated insolence.

What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook.

Unless you are educated in metaphor, you are not safe to be let loose in the world.

Never begrudge the money you spend on your own education.

To know that you do not know is the best.