First Lady Quotes

"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence."

"If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind whom should we serve?"

"If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation."

"We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them."

"Wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. Great necessities call out great virtues."

"I've always felt that a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic."

"Great necessities call out great virtues."

"If we mean to have heroes, statesmen and philosophers, we should have learned women."

"I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and like the grave, cries, 'Give, give.'"

"Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could."

"I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life. Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe."

"Well, knowledge is a fine thing, and mother Eve thought so; but she smarted so severely for hers, that most of her daughters have been afraid of it since."

"Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken."

"A little of what you call frippery is very necessary towards looking like the rest of the world."

"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence."

"Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could."

"At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent."

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

"Cherish your human connections - your relationships with friends and family."

"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."

"Believe in something larger than yourself... get involved in the big ideas of your time."

"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 think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life."

"Well, look at what people are doing for returned veterans now. The wounded warriors. They're working hard to make the wounded veterans feel that they are loved and welcomed home, unlike Vietnam. It was not a very kind, gentle world then. I think we are kinder and gentler."

"I'm a great believer that the most important years are the sort of early years but the preschool years and then into the first and second grades. If you get a good base in the first and second grade and you can read, you can do anything."

"I want to still be able to garden while I can bend over."

"One thing I can say about George... he may not be able to keep a job, but he's not boring."

"I may be the only mother in America who knows exactly what their child is up to all the time."

"I don't think that's healthy for the country when anyone thinks their morals are better than anyone else's."

"I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up."