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

A liberated woman is one who feels confident in herself, and is happy in what she is doing. She is a person who has a sense of self-it all comes down to a freedom of choice.

I don't feel that because I'm First Lady, I'm very different from what I was before. It can happen to anyone. After all, it has happened to anyone.

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.

Holding these babies in my arms makes me realize the miracle my husband and I began.

I have an independent streak. You know, it's kind of hard to tell a independent woman what to do.

I don't look at what I've lost. I look instead at what I have left.