For 14 years, I'd been on medication for the pinched nerve, the arthritis, the muscle spasms in my neck, and I'd lost my tolerance for pills. If I had a single drink, the alcohol, on top of the pills, would make me groggy.

You never know what you can do until you have to do it.

Alcohol may pick you up a little bit, but it lets you down in a hurry.

The problem with drugs is that people forget to stop doing them. There’s a time and a place for everything, Mr. Mackey, and it’s called college.

I feel it's important to be active. People who retire, sit by their swimming pool and golf course and plan to relax have a very empty life.

I think it wasn't so much that the White House altered me in any essential way as that I found the resources with which to respond to a series of challenges. You never know what you can do until you have to do it. In the beginning, it was like going to a party you're terrified of, and finding out to your amazement that you're having a good time.

I'll never forget the day that I was told I would have to have a mastectomy. My reaction to the words was total denial.