I was the same way after graduating with a degree in education. I started to teach and I was wondering: do I really know how to teach?

Politics is a people business. I like people.

Leadership is not about popularity, it is about doing what is right.

It's really important, obviously, for people to realize that it is a very small percentage, only 1 percent of our total economy, of our total budget, and I think that's important for people to know. But I also know that Americans are very generous and that many, many Americans are proud that their taxpayer dollar has saved lives in Africa through the president's malaria initiative or through PEPFAR, the emergency relief plan for AIDS.

I've always liked walking; that's one of my favorite things to do, and I try to walk every day. [In Washington, D.C.] I can't walk outside, but we have the treadmill. And I walked eight miles at the ranch last weekend. Now I also lift weights, which is also great for bone strength. [Mrs. Bush mimes a biceps curl and laughs.] I'm very, very strong, actually.

It's a huge advantage to have parents who read to you. And it's an advantage that lasts a lifetime.

If you take the burden of health care, of diseases off the backs of some other countries, it gives them a chance to use their own very limited resources in ways that help their people. And also there's a hopelessness associated with deadly diseases, that if that can be alleviated, people can build their own economies in their own countries and they'll be less reliant on the developed world for help.