“YOU CANNOT TAKE YOUR
FREEDOMS FOR GRANTED.
Just like generations who have come before you,
YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR PART TO PRESERVE
AND PROTECT THOSE FREEDOMS.”
—Final remarks as First Lady, School Counselor of the Year Reach Higher Event, January 6, 2017
“MEN WHO ARE TRULY ROLE MODELS—
DON’T NEED TO PUT DOWN WOMEN
TO MAKE THEMSELVES FEEL POWERFUL.
PEOPLE WHO ARE TRULY STRONG
LIFT OTHERS UP. PEOPLE WHO ARE TRULY
POWERFUL BRING OTHERS TOGETHER.”
—Hillary for America Campaign Event, October 13, 2016
“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.”
—Democratic National Convention, September 4, 2012
“That is THE STORY OF THIS COUNTRY …
the story of GENERATIONS OF PEOPLE
who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude,
the sting of segregation, but WHO KEPT ON
STRIVING AND HOPING AND DOING
WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE so that today,
I wake up every morning in a house that was
built by slaves—and I watch my daughters—
two beautiful, intelligent, black young women—
playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”
—Democratic National Convention, July 25, 2016
“YOU TOO,
WITH THESE VALUES,
CAN CONTROL
YOUR OWN DESTINY.
YOU TOO, CAN
PAVE THE WAY.”
—Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, April 2, 2009
“YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO
BE EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE.
But I also want to be very clear:
This right isn’t just handed to you.
No, this right has to be
earned every single day.”
—Final remarks as First Lady, School Counselor of the Year Reach Higher Event, January 6, 2017
“FEAR IS A USELESS EMOTION.
DON’T EVER MAKE DECISIONS
BASED ON FEAR.
MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON
HOPE AND POSSIBILITY.
MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON
WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN,
NOT WHAT SHOULDN’T.”
—Phoenix, Arizona, campaign fundraiser, June 3, 2008
“If you or your parents are
IMMIGRANTS, know that
YOU ARE PART OF A PROUD
AMERICAN TRADITION—
the infusion of new cultures, talents
and ideas, generation after generation,
THAT HAS MADE US
THE GREATEST COUNTRY
ON EARTH.”
—Final remarks as First Lady, School Counselor of the Year Reach Higher Event, January 6, 2017
“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.”
—Democratic National Convention, August 25, 2008
“THERE ARE STILL SO MANY
CAUSES WORTH SACRIFICING FOR.
THERE IS STILL SO MUCH
HISTORY YET TO BE MADE.”
—Young African Women Leaders Forum, June 22, 2011