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Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama Quotes

Former First Lady of the United States

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Famous Michelle Obama Quotes

“I always encourage people to start in their own personal universe, because sometimes we as parents start thinking about the big picture. How do I change what's happening in my entire school? And how do I do it in my community? And then you get overwhelmed and it's just like, "Forget it, I'll just stay here in my kitchen and wait." But, start small.”

“I'm trolling through the recesses of my mind for the things I did with my kids when they used to like to do things with me. They don't want to be around me now. I look back on these times - all those little funny pottery dishes that you'd pay for, and they'd paint, and they were ugly, and you glazed them, and you'd go back, pick them up, and it's like, "Oh, now I've got to put this on my desk." There's all that kind of stuff.”

“I was out there meeting with a lot of working moms and whenever I would gather a group of women, there was always a voice that was unfamiliar to me, and it was the voice of a military spouse, oftentimes a woman, oftentimes working, many times in a position where they've had to move every two or three years, where their kids have had to change school multiple times, people dealing - families dealing with multiple deployments, dealing with the stresses of reconnection.”

“The president [Barack Obama] asked for a commitment of, I think, 100,000 jobs for veterans and military spouses over the next couple of years. And we announced during the tour last week that we have gotten more than 60,000 jobs, and we're well on our way to just crashing that goal out of the water, because what businesses are understanding is that these men and women are some of the most highly trained resources that we have in this country.”

“These are things that we hear from military families everywhere we go. But it - on PTSD, the thing that I want to make sure people understand is that the vast majority of veterans and military families aren't dealing with any kind of mental health. But there are - these are what are called the invisible wounds of this war. And many times they don't present.”

“We got a commitment that 3 million nurses are going to be trained to better identify these signs [of PTSD], because, you know, when these troops come home and they become veterans and they go back into the civilian community, they're not always going through the VA system for medical care. They're going to show up at community hospitals and clinics.”

“Even in these tough economic times, Barack [Obama] has left the VA budget as is so that they're prepared to deal with this influx of men and women who are coming home and dealing with a whole array of issues, not just around mental health but just caregiving and the stresses of reconnecting with families who have been away from each other for a very long time.”

“I mean, let's take the average spouse. You know, you show up in an employer's, you know, office, and it's shown that you've changed jobs every two years. Well, to many employers that could be viewed as a red flag. But the truth is, is that you've made those moves because you're serving your country, and each time you've found a career, and you've been able to provide for your family, and you've continued to volunteer, and on and on and on.”

“Celebrating the holidays in the White House over these past eight years has been a true privilege. We've been able to welcome over half a million guests... our outstanding pastry chefs have baked 200,000 holiday cookies... and Barack [Obama] has treated the American people to countless dad jokes.”