A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.

The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation.

When Hillary was First Lady, we went to the Beijing Women’s Conference. She courageously stood up and spoke out on behalf of human rights and women’s rights, inspiring millions to fight for a better future.

True nobility is exempt from fear.

Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

Where globalization means, as it so often does, that the rich and powerful now have new means to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker, we have a responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom.

When befriended, remember it; when you befriend, forget it.

Rashness belongs to youth; prudence to old age.

Woman was God’s second mistake.

To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.

How should a man be capable of grooming his own horse, or of furbishing his own spear and helmet, if he allows himself to become unaccustomed to tending even his own person, which is his most treasured belonging?

If every man loves his mother, he’s going to treat the ladies right, with love and respect.

I don’t kiss nobody’s butt.

The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.

Youngsters of the age of two and three are endowed with extraordinary strength. They can lift a dog twice their own weight and dump him into the bathtub.

As a child of God, I am greater than anything that can happen to me.

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

A man makes you feel important – makes you glad you are a woman.

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.

If I were a Negro, I’d be fighting, as Martin Luther King fought, for human recognition and justice. I’d rather go down with my flag flying. If you’re weak or crippled, or you can’t speak out or fight back in some way, then people don’t hesitate to treat you badly.

What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep.

Getting old is a fascination thing. The older you get, the older you want to get.

Concentrate your energies, your thoughts and your capital. The wise man puts all his eggs in one basket and watches the basket.

I am who I am. That’s why my friends and peers respect and appreciate me. I don’t change or cater my actions to fit my surroundings. I’m myself 24/7. People appreciate that.

But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.

Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man.

If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.

As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.

America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments. We bear our burdens. That’s one of the reasons why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago when I took office.

If you have the insight of non-self, if you have the insight of impermanence, you should make that insight into a concentration that you keep alive throughout the day. Then what you say, what you think, and what you do will then be in the light of that wisdom and you will avoid making mistakes and creating suffering.

Tina Turner is someone that I admire, because she made her strength feminine and sexy. Marilyn Monroe, because she was a curvy woman. I’m drawn to things that have the same kind of silhouettes as what she wore because our bodies are similar.

There are other measures of self-respect for a man, than the number of clean shirts he puts on every day.

The sum of wisdom is that time is never lost that is devoted to work.

I will not be triumphed over.

Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don’t ever apologize for anything.

My sisters are stronger and my brother’s bigger than me.

You can choose a future where more Americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. And now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life.

He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

I had given up some youth for knowledge, but my gain was more valuable than the loss.

No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

I said on the equality side of it, that it is essential to a woman’s equality with man that she be the decision-maker, that her choice be controlling.

You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.

I grow daily to honour facts more and more, and theory less and less. A fact, it seems to me, is a great thing; a sentence printed, if not by God, then at least by the Devil.

Teach us that wealth is not elegance, that profusion is not magnificence, that splendor is not beauty.

How do you know what it’s like to be stupid if you’ve never been smart?

My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.

Here’s the thing: every office I’ve run for I was the first to win. First person of color. First woman. First woman of color. Every time.

For me, it’s about becoming a mogul, owning my own projects, and establishing myself as a funding producer. That’s what’s big to me. The movies and all that stuff are great, but the fact that I’m in a position to do what I want to do, however I want to do it and when I want to do it is bigger.

Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks, it is seldom necessary to assume it.

The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head.

Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself.

Great minds are related to the brief span of time during which they live as great buildings are to a little square in which they stand: you cannot see them in all their magnitude because you are standing too close to them.

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

As long as you live, keep learning how to live.

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.

The first decade of the twentieth century was not a great time to be born black and poor and female in St. Louis, Missouri, but Vivian Baxter was born black and poor, to black and poor parents. Later she would grow up and be called beautiful. As a grown woman she would be known as the butter-colored lady with the blowback hair.