I was elected because I believed in what we call "grassroots politics," politics from the bottom up, not the top down.

You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Keep exploring. Keep dreaming. Keep asking why. Don’t settle for what you already know. Never stop believing in the power of your ideas, your imagination, your hard work to change the world.

When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk.

Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail.

Change is never easy, but always possible.

Don’t ever let anybody tell you that your efforts don’t matter or that your voice doesn’t count. Don’t ever believe that you can’t make a difference. You have.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up.

Learning to stand in somebody else's shoes, to see through their eyes, that's how peace begins. And it's up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.

If somebody is different from you, that's not something you criticize, that's something that you appreciate.

No one ever loved you like him. And no one ever took it away so completely. But it's here. Look around.

Christians who are strong in the faith grow as they accept whatever God allows to enter their lives.

If you choose to not deal with an issue, then you give up your right of control over the issue and it will select the path of least resistance.

Perseverance is impossible if we don't permit ourselves to hope.

I started to think about the abyss that separates the poet from the reader and the next thing I knew I was deeply depressed.

Conciseness is the sister of talent.

Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It's important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It's the way in which we ourselves grow and develop.

I'm different in the sense that every minute of every day, I change. I'm thinking. But the basic principles that have powered me forward are still there. They're not different.

Just to get serious about this thing, you know. One has to be compassionate. It's true that people are up against things, economically and emotionally.

Love is the root of all joy and sorrow.