Quotation Wednesday – The Michelle Obama Edition

by the messy optimist

“That whole ‘so you can have it all.’ Nope, not at the same time. That’s a lie. And it’s not always enough to lean in, because that s*it doesn’t work all the time.”

“Strong men, strong men, men who are truly role models, don’t need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful.”

“Being president doesn’t change who you are – it reveals who you are.”

“Friendships between women, as any woman will tell you, are built of a thousand small kindnesses… swapped back and forth and over again.”

“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn’t be here. I guarantee you that.”

“Do not be afraid to fail because that often times is the thing that keeps us as women and girls back. Because we think we have to be right. We think we have to be perfect. We think that we can’t stumble. And the only way you succeed in life, the only way you learn, is by failing. It’s not the failure; it’s what you do after you fail.”

“Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own.”

“Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”

“We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean… and we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect.”

“I am an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them.”

“There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others.”

“Confidence, I’d learned then, sometimes needs to be called from within. I’ve repeated the same words to myself many times now, through many climbs: ‘Am I good enough? Yes I am.'”