I wasn't raised in a household where vanity was celebrated. That just wasn't on the top of our list.

I danced six hours a day. My cross to bear is that my children have no interest in ballet. I think they could smell how much I wanted to put their hair in a bun.

When Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt broke up, I was dying to see something that said they were getting back together.

I'm a pretty hard worker.

I miss West Virginia very much.

I'm a peace-maker, I can fit into a lot of situations. I'm pretty easygoing. I have a lot of patience.

Why does everyone think they need to be a star? It's ridiculous. The celebrity culture is so silly, and the fact that people grow up thinking that it's something to aspire to just seems wrong. I don't mean to bash my life. I love my life; I just think it's not the only way to go.

When I was in college, every summer I would work for free at a theater.

I have a great deal of respect for any women that will enter the world of little boys of sports.

The one thing I really lucked out on is that all through my teenage years, when my sister was a lifeguard and everyone I knew was out in the sun all day - I was in the theater. Everyone called me Casper because I never had a tan, and everyone else was tan all the time. I think that was the luckiest thing of my life.

There's rarely a big hat. I think all those things are great, but I'm boring in that I just use sunscreen every day. I don't mess around. I put it on first thing. I have it on now, and I'm sitting inside.

I usually don't wear makeup, and if I do, it's later in the day if I have to get my act together for work for some reason.

There's just nothing like sharing the spotlight or anything else with your sisters and your mom. It's always fun for me to get my sisters dolled up and my mom.

People have pain - they do regrettable things, they feel shame, and shame equals pain.

We do a lot of crafting at our house. I don't even know how it got started because if you ask me, 'Are you crafty?' I would say, 'No...' but it's something that we just do.

I'm so thrilled to get to raise my kids in the environment that they are in. I think it's easy just to imagine that all these kids are spoiled and entitled. Part of what makes me be strong with my kids is the fact that I'm surrounded by other really firm strong moms.

We can be so hard on ourselves. And other people can, too - there's so much criticism out there!

Sometimes leadership is planting trees under whose shade you'll never sit. It may not happen fully till after I'm gone. But I know that the steps we're taking are the right steps.

Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops, and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well.

Those who devote their lives to serving our country, children, and neighborhoods are giving back. They have answered the call to serve.

There's only so far you can go before you say enough is enough.

Caring for veterans shouldn't be a partisan issue. It should an American one.

Our strength is not just in the size of our defense budget, but in the size of our hearts, in the size of our gratitude for their sacrifice. And that's not just measured in words or gestures.

America is an idea. And it's the solemn responsibility of each 'temporary' president to protect and nurture that noblest of all ideas - with integrity. This man, Mitt Romney, has shown - not through his experience, but through his actions and words - that he is unqualified to carry out that responsibility.

Now, we love our auto industry. But if we had worked harder on diversifying this economy long ago, then if one of the legs of the stool starts to get wobbly, at least you've got three other legs to stand on.

I love the protest signs protected by the First Amendment - some of them humorous, some of them passionate, some factual, some entirely incorrect - all of them free ideas.

As a state we are so uniquely positioned in so many ways. Our geography, our placement in the country, and our history positions us to be the state that propels energy efficiency as an industry.

We can't equate spending on veterans with spending on defense. Our strength is not just in the size of our defense budget, but in the size of our hearts, in the size of our gratitude for their sacrifice. And that's not just measured in words or gestures.

We need to be celebrating those who serve us rather than mocking them for the purpose of getting on TV and selling some books.

The civil unrest of recent days must come to an end, and the healing process must begin for the future of the community. We will provide assistance both in ending the violence and enabling the healing process in Benton Harbor.

California has a beautiful coastline. It can be a rough coastline. The waves are huge. The rocks are steep. Same thing in Vancouver. It has a beautiful coastline. It's dramatic.

Often we women are risk averse. I needed the push. Now, more than ever, young women need more seasoned women to provide that encouragement, to take a risk, to go for it. Once a glass ceiling is broken, it stays broken.

This is the place where anybody - like an African American kid raised by a single mom - can be president.

We went to a small lake, Bass Lake. It was beautiful. It was perfectly still when we got there in the morning. The fog was lifting off the water. It was just magical. And we did catch some fish, 13 fish.

We need, first of all, for there to be accountability, for there to be somebody who is responsible for enforcing standards and holding people's feet to the fire.

Those who purify your water, inspect your meat, and test your kids' toys, as well as a huge number of nurses, teachers, and our soldiers, are public employees. The firefighters who don't hesitate to rush toward danger while you run away from it - they are all public employees.

I'm honestly perplexed about the distinction represented by the cervical wall. On one side, people should be prosecuted if they do anything to harm the fetus, but once on the outside, sorry kid, whatever happens happens. You're on your own.

Voter suppression laws, overzealous filibuster use, you name it - the Republicans use every tactic they can to stop our democracy from actually selecting the person with the most support.

Concentrating wealth in the hands of the few and deregulating financial institutions and practices lead to speculative bubbles that eventually burst - and that brings the whole country down.

The question is what will Mitt Romney do as president if his policy is simply to be hands off and let the government be made so small it can be drowned in a bathtub. In the 21st century global economy, no state alone has the ability to compete against China.

I have not made any suggestions about climate change. This is more about blending or shifting the conversation about the environment versus the economy. It's just such an old, outdated conversation.

There is a gentleness in Michigan that you just can't replicate.

Our great history has been that people came to Michigan because you didn't have to have a college degree to get a good-paying job. Consequently, we have got a larger number of our population that right now are facing outsourcing, et cetera, without higher or advanced degrees.

Republicans are definitely pro-birth - they'll do everything they can to make sure that that baby comes out, regardless of how it got in, but are they pro-life? Can you be pro-life and vote to cut funding that supports the life of a child?

If you are tired of partisanship over patriotism, you need to vote for a change in direction.

I say Democrats should not be afraid to talk about the morality of life, of caring for children who are born. It seems the Republican obsession with being pro-life lasts about nine months. After that, it's each baby for herself.

We're on the cusp, on the brink, of enormous change in this country.

California is beautiful to look at, but you can't be a part of it like you can in Michigan.

For most of the 20th century, we didn't just enjoy economic success in Michigan, we defined it. Our innovators and entrepreneurs created the world's most productive companies, and our unions made sure that productivity led to broad middle class prosperity.

If the person at the wheel refuses to ask for directions, it is time for a new driver.