Quotes By Barbara Bush

You know, for one glorious half hour, I was the mother of the president-elect.

You just don't luck into things as much as you'd like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities.

At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.

I may be the only mother in America who knows exactly what their child is up to all the time.

Let's judge a man on what he's done.

I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life.

I don't think that's healthy for the country when anyone thinks their morals are better than anyone else's.

I hate abortions, but just could not make that choice for someone else.

Everything I worry about would be better if more people could read, write and comprehend.

If you are the wife of a governor or the wife of a vice president, I think you can be prepared for it.

Bias has to be taught. If you hear your parents downgrading women or people of different backgrounds, why, you are going to do that.

I'm not being outspoken or pro or con abortion.

You may think the president is all-powerful, but he is not. He needs a lot of guidance from the Lord.

You get nothing done if you don't listen to each other.

You have to love your children unselfishly. That's hard. But it's the only way.

The state dinner is almost a formula, but you try to make it interesting. You try not to overload it with too many political types. You try to get a cross section.

My health is very good.

The personal things should be left out of platforms at conventions. You can argue yourself blue in the face, and you're not going to change each other's minds. It's a waste of your time and my time.

When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.

One thing I can say about George... he may not be able to keep a job, but he's not boring.

Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.

I want to still be able to garden while I can bend over.

Raising five boys is a handful, trust me.

I decided I ought to pick a project that would not be controversial, that would not really cost the government a lot of money.

I do have the most marvelous husband, children, and grandchildren.

To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.

I don't like the blame game, though.

My son, George, has been a bad, bad boy! Right, George?

I'm a great believer that the most important years are the sort of early years but the preschool years and then into the first and second grades. If you get a good base in the first and second grade and you can read, you can do anything.

Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the president's spouse. I wish him well!