Barbara Bush Quotes

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

I don't like the blame game, though.

Whatever the era ... one thing will never change: Fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first.

Show me a wife who doesn't offer advice and I'll show you one who doesn't care very much.

Suddenly women's lib had made me feel my life had been wasted.

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

Nancy Reagan was a perfectionist, and I am not.

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

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

There are a lot of ways to serve, and being president is not the only one, and I would hope that someone else would run.

I'm a little old-fashioned.

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

I love talking to people, but what I really love is to feel you're doing something instead of sitting home and twiddling your thumbs.

Nobody likes, you know, the ugly parts of politics.

I'm taking a vow not to advise.

Cherish your human connections - your relationships with friends and family.

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

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

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

Future of his nation does not depend on what happens at the White House, but what happens at your house

Raising George Walker was not easy.

Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people.

You know sit with your arm around a little kid and read. It not only teaches them to read but it keeps the family strong.

Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is.

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.

It seems to me I spent my life in car pools, but you know, that's how I kept track of what was going on.

Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood ... but everyone has something to give.

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

You can't tell a 6-year-old your sister is going to die.

Whether you are talking about education, career, or service, you are talking about life. And life must really have joy. It's supposed to be fun.

I have a pig valve.

Nobody likes a child to die or losing an election.

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

I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell my children that, they just about throw up.

Raising five boys is a handful, trust me.

Believe in something larger than yourself ... get involved in the big ideas of your time.

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

If more people could read, write, and comprehend, we could be much closer to solving so many of the other problems our country faces today.

Value your friendship. Value your relationships.

War is not nice.

George is the best little dishwasher in Texas.

I think the country has had enough Bushes.

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

I'm worried about parents who aren't parenting.

My health is very good.

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.

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

Your success as a family ... our success as a nation ... depends not on what happens inside the White House, but on what happens inside your house.

I mean Afghanistan is a very rugged, complicated country.

The winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream, not society's dream, her own personal dream.

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

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

The First Lady is going to be criticized no matter what she does.

I mean you can learn how to build a bullet or build a gun or build a bomb on the Internet.

The Titanic was built by professionals. The Ark was built by volunteers.

Life has changed enormously, and I hope - I hope more people read good things.

I don't like attacking.

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

The home is the child's first school, the parent is the child's first teacher, and reading is the child's first subject.

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

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

People who worry about their hair all the time, frankly, are boring.

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this - this (chuckles slightly) is working very well for them.

Family and friends and faith are the most important things in your life and you should be building friendships.

I'm tired now of the elections.

I really feel very strongly that the person who runs for office is the courageous one, and the one who everybody has to know.

I'm not a one-issue person.

I'm not going to jump out of airplanes or anything like someone else I know.

You try to do something every single day that will help an American or maybe someone overseas.

My worst expectations never happened.

I really loved living in the White House, but I don't miss it at all.

It was the dumbest thing I had ever seen, but it's a family thing, and I guess it's clean.

I really built myself up, darn it, to be very strong.

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 hate the fact that people think 'compromise' is a dirty word.

I'm not a competitive person, and I think women like me because they don't think I'm competitive, just nice.

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