Michelle Obama

Good relationships feel good. They feel right. They don’t hurt.

How hard you work matters more than how much you make.

Every day, you have the power to choose our better history – by opening your hearts and minds, by speaking up for what you know is right.

Just do what works for you, because there will always be someone who think diffenrently…

Our life before moving to Washington was filled with simple joys. Saturdays at soccer games, Sundays at Grandma’s house. And a date night for Barack and me was either dinner or a movie, because as an exhausted mom, I couldn’t stay awake for both. He was still the guy who’d picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, I could actually see the pavement going by through a hole in the passenger-side door.

Our first job in life as women, I think, is to get to know ourselves. And I think a lot of times we don’t do that. We spend our time pleasing, satisfying, looking out into the world to define who we are – listening to the messages, the images, the limited definitions that people have of who we are.

If we are going to see real development in the world then our best investment is women.

No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor.

[My father] always reminded us that it was important to stand up for your rights, and regardless of who you are and where you come from, to hold your head up high with dignity and respect.

All men should be feminists. If men care about women’s rights, the world will be a better place.

[on Serena Williams] You are THE epitome of grace and prowess!!! You are an inspiration to all of us. Your purpose to be a leader and a light is a gift to the world!! We love you and thank you for sharing your greatness and spirit!

I love to challenge the status quo. That’s been my mission from day one as an actress and an early feminist wanting equality and wanting to push the limits of what’s possible.

It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we truly measure up as men.

A woman who is convinced that she deserves to accept only the best challenges herself to give the best. Then she is living phenomenally.

We think – or maybe we’re shown – that the only way to express ourselves is through that very sexy energy. I think there’s more than that which shows our power. For me, I sometimes feel the most sexy when I’m totally covered head to toe.

My first instinct is great pride for all of us as women who are finding our voices.

I wish that girls could fail as bad as men do and be okay.

I’ve been at so many tables with so many folks who are imposters. But shame on us if we sit by and let an imposter talk us down.

The woman who doesn’t require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet.

For me, as a feminist, I would say it should be up to the woman to decide if she wants to be a mom … If she wants to go out and work, have a career other than being a mom, then she should be able to do that as well.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I always knew the woman I wanted to be.