"You see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still 'mom-in-chief.' My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the center of my world."

"I never cut class. I loved getting A's, I liked being smart. I liked being on time. I thought being smart is cooler than anything in the world."

"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. I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life who taught me about quiet strength and dignity."

"My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before. I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don't belong."

"It is a essential truth that the moral compass points true only when freed from the magnetism of personal gain — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"My life in Brooklyn was in constant danger because of my bad health."

"The worst men often give the best advice."

"Dying is easy, it's living that scares me to death."