Michelle Obama: Trending quotes (page 3)

“When I first arrived at school as a first-generation college student, I didn’t know anyone on campus except my brother. I didn’t know how to pick the right classes or find the right buildings. I didn’t even bring the right size sheets for my dorm room bed. I didn’t realize those beds were so long. So I was a little overwhelmed and a little isolated.”

Michelle Obama

Statements proceeding introduction of husband at College Opportunity Summit (16 January 2014) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/16/remarks-president-and-first-lady-college-opportunity-summit
2010s

School

“Serving as your First Lady is an honor and a privilege…but back when we first came together four years ago, I still had some concerns about this journey we'd begun. While I believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country…and I was certain he would make an extraordinary President…like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance.”

Michelle Obama

2010s, Democratic National Convention speech (2012)

Girl , Chance , Country

“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.”

Michelle Obama

Campaign rally, Madison, Wisconsin (18 February 2008) http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/764fosie.asp
2000s

Future

“Millions of Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams; that Barack will fight for people like them; and that Barack will finally bring the change we need.”

Michelle Obama

2000s, Democratic National Convention speech (2008)

People , Dreams , Understanding , Change

“[As graduates with] all the status and connections that degree confers, you don’t get to have no hands. No, you don’t get to be precious or cautious or cynical. No, not when the earth is warming and the oceans are rising. You don’t get to be cynical. Not when too many young people still languish in communities ripped apart by violence and despair. Not when women still make less than men for the same work. Not when millions of girls across the globe never set foot inside a school. (Applause.) No, not when many young people just like you — the men and women we honor this Memorial Day—have sacrificed their lives for your freedom to make your voice heard. You don’t get to have no hands.”

Michelle Obama

2010s, Commencement speech for Oberlin College Prep graduates (2015)

Women , Men , People , School

“…we live in such an instantaneous age. We want everything right away—whether it’s an Uber or your favorite TV show—and we want it tailored to our exact preferences and beliefs. We fill our Twitter feed with voices that confirm, rather than challenge, our views. If we dislike someone’s Facebook post, we just un-follow them, we un-friend them. …in the real world, there are plenty of people who think very differently than you do, and they hold their opinions just as passionately. So if you want to change their minds, if you want to work with them to move this country forward, you can’t just shut them out. You have to persuade them, and you have to compromise with them. That is what so many of our heroes of history have done.”

Michelle Obama

2010s, Commencement speech for Oberlin College Prep graduates (2015)

People , Age , World , History

“One of the things — the important aspects of this race — is role modeling what good families should look like. Our view was that, if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House.”

Michelle Obama

Speech Speech at a Women for Obama rally http://screens.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/if-you-cant-run-the-white-house/, Chicago (August 2007). (YouTube video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN1qZMBE9Gc
2000s

Family , Housing

“Barack has lead by example. When we took our trip to Africa and visited his home country in Kenya, we took a public HIV test—for the very point of showing folks in Kenya that there is nothing to be embarrassed about in getting tested.”

Michelle Obama

Speech to the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee in New York City (June 2008), quoted in "Did Michelle say Barack born in Kenya?" http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/136769/ by Jerome R. Corsi, WND.com (5 April 2010). Michelle says Barack's Home country is Kenya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBJihJBePcs (YouTube video)
2000s

Home , Country

“And in the end, after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital 10 years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.”

Michelle Obama

2000s, Democratic National Convention speech (2008)

Love , Feeling , Home , Past

“And then there’s this guy, Barack Obama, who lost – I could take up a whole afternoon talking about his failures, but – he lost his first race for Congress, and now he gets to call himself my husband…”

Michelle Obama

"Michelle Obama Tells Grads: ‘I Could Take Up a Whole Afternoon Talking About’ Barack Obama’s Failures", in CNSNews (20 May 2013) http://cnsnews.com/news/article/michelle-obama-tells-grads-i-could-take-whole-afternoon-talking-about-barack-obama-s
2010s

Guy , Failure

“See, my parents didn't go to college, but they were determined to give us that opportunity. My dad was a pump operator at the city water plant, diagnosed with MS in his early thirties. And every morning I watched him struggle to get out of bed and inch his way to his walker, and painstakingly button his uniform, but never once did I hear him complain. Not once. He just kept getting up, day after day, year after year, to do whatever he could to give our family a better shot at life.”

Michelle Obama

Remarks at Bowie State University ceremony (17 May 2013) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/17/remarks-first-lady-bowie-state-university-commencement-ceremony
2010s

Life , Family , Way , Parent

“People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters — and sons — can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher. People like Joe Biden, who's never forgotten where he came from and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.”

Michelle Obama

2000s, Democratic National Convention speech (2008)

People , Dreams , Fight , Daughters

“Being your First Lady has been the greatest honor of my life, and I hope I've made you proud.”

Michelle Obama

2010s, Farewell Speech (2017)

Life , Hope

“Hillary understands that the president is about one thing and one thing only, it’s about leaving something better for our kids.”

Michelle Obama

2010s, 2016 Democratic National Convention (2016)

Understanding

“Translating hope into action is something Barack has done for his entire career.”

Michelle Obama

Letter to The Advocate (21 October 2008)
2000s

Hope

“By actually working with the Black lower class or within their communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better understand the desparation [sic] of their situation and feel more hopeless about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to [sic] their plight.”

Michelle Obama

" Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community http://pt.scribd.com/doc/2305083/Princeton-Educated-Blacks-and-the-Black-Community", senior thesis, Princeton University (1985), p. 112
1980s

Feeling , Communication , Understanding

“Barack is one of the smartest men we will see in our lifetime.”

Michelle Obama

Campaign rally, Las Vegas, Nevada http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/601mzofy.asp (17 January 2008)
2000s

Men

“In one Eastern Shore town, a teacher reported to work one morning to find that someone had smashed the windows of her schoolhouse. Other black schools across Maryland were burned to the ground. Teachers received death threats. One was even beaten by an angry mob. But despite the risks, understand, students flocked to these schools in droves, often walking as many as eight to ten miles a day to get their education. In fact, the educational association that founded Bowie State wrote in their 1864 report that — and this is a quote — “These people are coming in beyond our ability to receive them.” Desperately poor communities held fundraisers for these schools, schools which they often built with their own hands. And folks who were barely scraping by dug deep into their own pockets to donate money.”

Michelle Obama

Remarks at Bowie State University ceremony (17 May 2013) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/17/remarks-first-lady-bowie-state-university-commencement-ceremony
2010s

Death , Money , People , Education

“And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us — no matter what our age or background or walk of life — each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.”

Michelle Obama

2000s, Democratic National Convention speech (2008)

Life , People , Age , Law

“Barack believes in the greatness of America. He’s seen it in his own life’s journey. But he also knows that what’s holding us back is that our leaders have lost touch with the ideals that make this country great. Ideals like equality. Justice. Freedom from want and despair. And he believes that until we restore a sense of common destiny and shared purpose; until we understand that we are only as strong as the weakest among us; that there is more that binds us together than drives us apart; until we see ourselves in one another – until we truly care for all children; not just our own then we will continue to struggle with the problems that plague us.”

Michelle Obama

2000s, A Challenge to Overcome (November 2007)

Life , Children , Justice , Understanding