Michelle Obama Quotes And Sayings

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an American lawyer, writer, and First Lady of the United States. She is married to the 44th and current President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady. She subsequently worked as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago and the Vice President for Community and External Affairs of the University of Chicago Medical Center. As First Lady, Obama has become a fashion icon, a role model for women, and an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating.

Choose People Who Lift You Up.

Exercise Is Really Important To Me - It's Therapeutic. So If I'm Ever Feeling Tense Or Stressed Or Like I'm About To Have A Meltdown, I'll Put On My Ipod And Head To The Gym Or Out On A Bike Ride Along Lake Michigan With The Girls.

You May Not Always Have A Comfortable Life And You Will Not Always Be Able To Solve All Of The World's Problems At Once But Don't Ever Underestimate The Importance You Can Have Because History Has Shown Us That Courage Can Be Contagious And Hope Can Take On A Life Of Its Own.

If Proud Americans Can Be Who They Are And Boldly Stand At The Altar With Who They Love Then Surely, Surely We Can Give Everyone In This Country A Fair Chance At That Great American Dream.

I Am An Example Of What Is Possible When Girls From The Very Beginning Of Their Lives Are Loved And Nurtured By People Around Them. I Was Surrounded By Extraordinary Women In My Life Who Taught Me About Quiet Strength And Dignity.

Find People Who Will Make You Better.

Success Is Only Meaningful And Enjoyable If It Feels Like Your Own.

Women In Particular Need To Keep An Eye On Their Physical And Mental Health, Because If We're Scurrying To And From Appointments And Errands, We Don't Have A Lot Of Time To Take Care Of Ourselves. We Need To Do A Better Job Of Putting Ourselves Higher On Our Own 'To Do' List.

The Fact Is, With Every Friendship You Make, And Every Bond Of Trust You Establish, You Are Shaping The Image Of America Projected To The Rest Of The World. That Is So Important. So When You Study Abroad, You're Actually Helping To Make America Stronger.

I Want A President Who Will Teach Our Children That Everyone In This Country Matters, A President Who Truly Believes In The Vision That Our Founders Put Forth All Those Years Ago That We Are All Created Equal, Each A Beloved Part Of The Great American Story.

I Never Cut Class. I Loved Getting A's, I Liked Being Smart. I Liked Being On Time. I Thought Being Smart Is Cooler Than Anything In The World.

Whether You Come From A Council Estate Or A Country Estate, Your Success Will Be Determined By Your Own Confidence And Fortitude.

We Learned About Honesty And Integrity - That The Truth Matters... That You Don't Take Shortcuts Or Play By Your Own Set Of Rules... And Success Doesn't Count Unless You Earn It Fair And Square.

We Learned About Dignity And Decency - That How Hard You Work Matters More Than How Much You Make... That Helping Others Means More Than Just Getting Ahead Yourself.

I'm Not Asking Any Of You To Make Drastic Changes To Every Single One Of Your Recipes Or To Totally Change The Way You Do Business. But What I Am Asking Is That You Consider Reformulating Your Menu In Pragmatic And Incremental Ways To Create Healthier Versions Of The Foods That We All Love.

We Need To Do A Better Job Of Putting Ourselves Higher On Our Own 'To Do' List.

I Love That For Barack, There Is No Such Thing As 'Us' And 'Them' - He Doesn't Care Whether You're A Democrat, A Republican, Or None Of The Above... He Knows That We All Love Our Country... And He's Always Ready To Listen To Good Ideas... He's Always Looking For The Very Best In Everyone He Meets.

Sometimes, It's Just Easier To Say Yes To That Extra Snack Or Dessert, Because Frankly, It Is Exhausting To Keep Saying No. It's Exhausting To Plead With Our Kids To Eat Just One More Bite Of Vegetables.

I Have Never Felt More Confident In Myself, More Clear On Who I Am As A Woman. But I Am Constantly Thinking About My Own Health And Making Sure That I'm Eating Right And Getting Exercise And Watching The Aches And Pains. I Want To Be This Really Fly 80-90-year Old.

And I Love That Even In The Toughest Moments, When We're All Sweating It - When We're Worried That The Bill Won't Pass, And It Seems Like All Is Lost - Barack Never Lets Himself Get Distracted By The Chatter And The Noise. Just Like His Grandmother, He Just Keeps Getting Up And Moving Forward... With Patience And Wisdom, And Courage And Grace.

My Kids Are Normal. If They Could Eat Burgers And Fries And Ice Cream Every Day, They Would. And So Would I. But That Doesn't Sustain Us.

One Of The Lessons That I Grew Up With Was To Always Stay True To Yourself And Never Let What Somebody Else Says Distract You From Your Goals.

As A Mom, I Know It Is My Responsibility, And No One Else's, To Raise My Kids. But We Have To Ask Ourselves, What Does It Mean When So Many Parents Are Finding Their Best Efforts Undermined By An Avalanche Of Advertisements Aimed At Our Kids.

My First Job In All Honesty Is Going To Continue To Be Mom-in-chief. Making Sure That In This Transition, Which Will Be Even More Of A Transition For The Girls... That They Are Settled And That They Know They Will Continue To Be The Center Of Our Universe.

Fortunately, We Have Help From The Media. I Have To Say This: I'm Very Grateful For The Support And Kindness That We've Gotten. People Have Respected Their Privacy And In That Way, I Think, You Know, No Matter What People May Feel About My Husband's Policies Or What Have You, They Care About Children And That's Been Good To See.

I Was Not Raised With Wealth Or Resources Or Any Social Standing To Speak Of.

The Problem Is When That Fun Stuff Becomes The Habit. And I Think That's What's Happened In Our Culture. Fast Food Has Become The Everyday Meal.

See, That's Why Barack's Running: To End The War In Iraq Responsibly - To Build An Economy That Lifts Every Family, To Make Sure Health Care Is Available For Every American - And To Make Sure That Every Child In This Nation Has A World-class Education All The Way From Preschool To College.

Another Suggestion Is To Cook A Meal, Maybe Not Every Night, But A Couple More Times A Week Than You Usually Do. That Way You Have Leftovers, And You Take Your Lunch To Work.

When I Get Up And Work Out, I'm Working Out Just As Much For My Girls As I Am For Me, Because I Want Them To See A Mother Who Loves Them Dearly, Who Invests In Them, But Who Also Invests In Herself. It's Just As Much About Letting Them Know As Young Women That It Is Okay To Put Yourself A Little Higher On Your Priority List.

I Am Desperate For Change - Now - Not In 8 Years Or 12 Years, But Right Now.

At The End Of The Day, When It Comes Time To Make That Decision, As President, All You Have To Guide You Are Your Values, And Your Vision, And The Life Experiences That Make You Who You Are.

It Wasn't So Long Ago That I Was A Working Mom Myself. And I Know That Sometimes, Much As We All Hate To Admit It, It's Just Easier To Park The Kids In Front Of The Tv For A Few Hours, So We Can Pay The Bills Or Do The Laundry Or Just Have Some Peace And Quiet For A Change.

We Learned About Gratitude And Humility - That So Many People Had A Hand In Our Success, From The Teachers Who Inspired Us To The Janitors Who Kept Our School Clean... And We Were Taught To Value Everyone's Contribution And Treat Everyone With Respect.

My Experiences At Princeton Have Made Me Far More Aware Of My 'Blackness' Than Ever Before. I Have Found That At Princeton, No Matter How Liberal And Open-minded Some Of My White Professors And Classmates Try To Be Toward Me, I Sometimes Feel Like A Visitor On Campus; As If I Really Don't Belong.

And Let's Be Clear: It's Not Enough Just To Limit Ads For Foods That Aren't Healthy. It's Also Going To Be Critical To Increase Marketing For Foods That Are Healthy.

The Realities Are That, You Know, As A Black Man, You Know, Barack Can Get Shot Going To The Gas Station, You Know.

I Look At How My Kids View Exercise. They Have A Complete Understanding That Nutrition And Exercise Go Hand In Hand. I Didn't Think Like That When I Was A Kid. But They Have A Real Consciousness About It That I'd Like To Think Comes From The Years Of Attention We've Put Into This.

The Truth Is, In Order To Get Things Like Universal Health Care And A Revamped Education System, Then Someone Is Going To Have To Give Up A Piece Of Their Pie So That Someone Else Can Have More.

I've Seen Firsthand That Being President Doesn't Change Who You Are. It Reveals Who You Are.

There Are Still Many Causes Worth Sacrificing For, So Much History Yet To Be Made.

You See, At The End Of The Day, My Most Important Title Is Still 'Mom-in-chief.' My Daughters Are Still The Heart Of My Heart And The Center Of My World.

When It Comes To The Health Of Our Families, Barack Refused To Listen To All Those Folks Who Told Him To Leave Health Reform For Another Day, Another President. He Didn't Care Whether It Was The Easy Thing To Do Politically - That's Not How He Was Raised - He Cared That It Was The Right Thing To Do.

One Of The Lessons That I Grew Up With Was To Always Stay True To Yourself And Never Let What Somebody Else Says Distract You From Your Goals. And So When I Hear About Negative And False Attacks, I Really Don't Invest Any Energy In Them, Because I Know Who I Am.

And Barack And I Were Raised With So Many Of The Same Values, Like You Work Hard For What You Want In Life. That Your Word Is Your Bond; That You Do What You Say You're Going To Do. That You Treat People With Dignity And Respect, Even If You Don't Know Them And Even If You Don't Agree With Them.

Oh, I Can't Play Soccer, And I'm Not A Great Swimmer. I Won't Drown, But You Won't See Me Doing Laps In A Pool.

Clearly This Is A Tough Economic Time, And A Lot Of Families Are Hurting. So When We Talk To Parents, We Talk About Small Changes For Kids And Things That Don't Cost Extra Money. Like Adding Water And Eliminating Sugary Drinks And Sodas. That's Going To Save Money Right There. Or Adding A Few More Vegetables.

I Am So Tired Of Fear. And I Don't Want My Girls To Live In A Country, In A World, Based On Fear.

What I Tell My Kids Is, 'I'm Preparing You For College And For Life. So, Having Independence, Knowing How To Set Your Own Boundaries, Figuring Out How To Make That Balance. We Still Have Screen-time Rules.'

I Have A Very Eclectic Ipod. So I've Got My Cardio People - So It's Anything From Beyonce To Some Jay-z To Janelle Monae, Her Song 'Tightrope,' That's A Good Cardio Song. And Then I've Got Sting. I've Got Mary J. Blige. I've Got The Beatles. I've Got Michael Jackson. I Try To Pick The Songs That I Personally Love.