You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‚Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.‘ See the positive in negative events.

Fear clogs; faith liberates.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

Although the circumstances of our lives may seem very disengaged, with me standing here as the First Lady of the United States of America and you just getting through school, I want you to know we have very much in common. For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady.

There is nothing happens to any person but what was in his power to go through with.

For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is.

I do believe in the old saying, ‚What does not kill you makes you stronger.‘ Our experiences, good and bad, make us who we are. By overcoming difficulties, we gain strength and maturity.

I’m still living at least five parallel lives, honestly! I wonder about it. I have no idea how that happens.

You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.

I think I have always had a little humor.

We are what we believe we are.

The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.

Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Face your fears and doubts, and new worlds will open to you.

When I was a child, I was very poor and wanted everything. So when I got money, I began buying things.

Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

I think it’s healthy for a person to be nervous. It means you care – that you work hard and want to give a great performance. You just have to channel that nervous energy into the show.

I will be conquered; I will not capitulate.

The thing we fear we bring to pass.

Understand this law and you will then know, beyond room for the slightest doubt, that you are constantly punishing yourself for every wrong you commit and rewarding yourself for every act of constructive conduct in which you indulge.

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.

Basically, when you get to my age, you’ll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you.

I always try to be myself. Ever since I was an introverted kid, I’d get on stage and be able to break out of my shell.

I want you to be everything that’s you, deep at the center of your being.

Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.

We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork, you must make a decision.

Because my dad abused me, I was determined to never let a man tell me what to do. God clearly showed me that I needed to be a submissive wife if I wanted to be effective in ministry. The truth is, if we don’t learn to submit to authority, we won’t ever learn to submit to God.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

Things do not change; we change.

I didn’t try to copy my dad or fit into the pressure or the mold that everybody tried to make me fit into.

You’ll never get ahead of anyone as long as you try to get even with him.

The human wish to credit good things as miraculous and to charge bad things to another account is apparently universal.

When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.

I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.

I could never identify with that word, ‚weak.‘

Life is a series of commas, not periods.

When I left the University of Notre Dame, I honestly felt I would never coach again.

I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.

Many people think of perfectionism as striving to be your best, but it is not about self-improvement; it’s about earning approval and acceptance.

As a medical doctor, I have known the face of adversity. I have seen much of death and dying, suffering and sorrow. I also remember the plight of students overwhelmed by their studies and of those striving to learn a foreign language. And I recall the fatigue and frustration felt by young parents with children in need.

I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

It is impossible to underrate human intelligence – beginning with one’s own.

There is no coming to consciousness without pain.

To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.

People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good things. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negative things, with judgments, guilt and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on.

Choosing an attitude of faith will release peace out of your spirit and into your soul.

An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself.

There’s a deceptive sin that can keep us from walking in love: pride. It’s deceptive because when you have pride, you’re usually too proud to admit it. I know this because I used to have teachings on pride and they didn’t sell well.

I’m trying to keep a level head. You have to be careful out in the world. It’s so easy to get turned.

Fear is real, but so is love.

When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail. If you are going after Moby Dick, take along the tartar sauce.

Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

Those of us who submitted or surrendered our ideas and dreams and identities to the ‚leaders‘ must take back our rights, our identities, our responsibilities.

Enemies are so stimulating.

My life as a child did not prepare me for the fact that the world is full of cruel and bitter things.