“I think the city of Washington itself is insular to a certain extent. You have to get out in the country to realize what is going on and discover that the perceptions in Washington aren’t necessarily accurate.”

If we have not achieved our early dreams, we must either find new ones or see what we can salvage from the old. If we have accomplished what we set out to do in our youth, we need not weep like Alexander the Great that we have no more worlds to conquer.

If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can’t accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.

I believe that one of the most important things to learn in life is that you can make a difference in your community no matter who you are or where you live.

First ladies throughout our history have been expected to be adoring wives and perfect mothers.

Don’t worry about polls, but if you do, don’t admit it.

You must accept that you might fail; then, if you do your best and still don’t win, at least you can be satisfied that you’ve tried. If you don’t accept failure as a possibility, you don’t set high goals, you don’t branch out, you don’t try – you don’t take the risk.

Without volunteers, we’d be a nation without a soul.

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.

I had already learned from more than a decade of political life that I was going to be criticized no matter what I did, so I might as well be criticized for something I wanted to do.

There is clearly much left to be done, and whatever else we are going to do, we had better get on with it.

If you look at suicides, most of them are connected to depression. And the mental health system just fails them. It’s so sad. We know what to do. We just don’t do it.

Early diagnosis is so important because the earlier a mental illness can be detected, diagnosed and treatment can begin, the better off that person can be for the rest of his or her life.

There is nothing more important than a good, safe, secure home.

Do what you can to show you care about other people, and you will make our world a better place.

Times of upheaval require not just more leadership but more leaders. People at all organizational levels, whether anointed or self-appointed, must be empowered to share leadership responsibilities.

We have to get the word out that mental illnesses can be diagnosed and treated, and almost everyone suffering from mental illness can live meaningful lives in their communities.

To me, style is consistency.

We must all strive and concentrate all our thoughts in order that such happiness may accrue to the world of humanity.

He who ceases to learn cannot adequately teach.

Fundamental accuracy of statement is the ONE sole morality of writing.

Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear.

From the beginning, I’ve had to juggle and weigh the silly things people say – and I’ve learnt that they’re meaningless, and they’re mostly inaccurate. So I don’t worry about it, because there’s nothin’ for me to deal with.

A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.

No person will deny that the highest degree of attainable accuracy is an object to be desired, and it is generally found that the last advances towards precision require a greater devotion of time, labour, and expense, than those which precede them.