Laura Bush Quotes

There's a very close tie between good health and good education.

There are gender health differences, and we need to know what they are.

Maybe it is the media that has us divided.

We seldom give each other advice-I think that's the success of 25 years of marriage.

In contrast to my husband, I can pronounce the word nuclear.

I'm not wild about the term first lady. I'd just like to be called Laura Bush.

Nothing attracts attention like a red dress.

It's really important for boys to have a father around, or a grandfather, or an uncle - a man they can really relate to who loves them, and who they know loves them.

We all, parents, educators, community leaders, and every ... citizen, need to come together to find new ways to engage children with the natural environment.

It's really important for people who are HIV positive to reach out to let other people know that they can be tested, they can find out they can still live a life
a positive life, a happy life.

But you know, it's not easy when your husband runs for president. I mean, it's not easy for me. I'm sure it's not easy for her. There's a lot of scrutiny on families that isn't always wanted.

I turned to books for comfort. (Former First Lady, Laura Bush)

My husband and I have always incorporated things into our life that reduce stress. We're very careful with our health. We go to bed early. In this job, fatigue would be very detrimental! We've always eaten very healthily; now it's really particularly easy because we have a chef.

Children know that if they have a question about the world, the library is the place to find the answer. And someone will always be there to help them find the answer-our librarians. (A librarian's) job is an important one. Our nation runs on the fuel of information and imagination that libraries provide. And they are in charge of collecting and sharing this information in a helpful way. Librarians inform the public, and by doing so, they strengthen our great democracy.

What I want for children in our country and around the world is safe, stable and loving homes.

I'm inspired by my faith and all the different people around me.

Politics is a people business. I like people.

As parents, the most important thing we can do
is read to our children early and often. Reading
is the path to success in school and life. When
children learn to love books, they learn to love
learning.

My mother was my Girl Scout leader, and George's mother was his Cub Scout leader. In fact, that's when some say her hair turned white.

When we look around the world today, when we see in Afghanistan that 10 million people have registered to vote in their upcoming elections, including 40 percent of those people are women, that's just unbelievable.

Time spent in nature decreases stress and anxiety and improves focus for adults as well as children.

They're great girls. They're very funny, they're very smart, they're fun to be with. They're very lively, as I think people can tell. And you know, they're very confident girls.

Well, I think that we ought to definitely look at it and debate it. I think there are a lot of people who have trouble coming to terms with that because they see marriage as traditionally being between a man and a woman. But I also know that when couples are committed to each other and love each other, that they ought to have, I think, the same sort of rights that everyone has.

Giving homeless children the chance to be educated, giving them this ticket to their futures, is so wonderful. They will have the chance to not repeat the suffering of their childhoods in their own families. They can build secure and safe lives for themselves and their children.

Diseases don't respect borders. You know, just at the edge of the American border, that isn't the edge of diseases. We need to be sure that we're looking worldwide. And it is in our security interest, as well as our moral interest, to pay attention to the rest of the world.

I would never do anything to undermine my husband's point of view.

I mean, it's fun for us to talk about issues. You know, there's no one issue we spend a lot of time on probably, because he gets to do that all day with somebody else who's a lot more expert at issues than I am.

Well, we've faced very difficult decisions and challenges in our country, every one of us have, as we - since September 11th, as we fought the war on terror, all of those decisions that the President had to make to put young men and women in harm's way.

It's really important, obviously, for people to realize that it is a very small percentage, only 1 percent of our total economy, of our total budget, and I think that's important for people to know. But I also know that Americans are very generous and that many, many Americans are proud that their taxpayer dollar has saved lives in Africa through the president's malaria initiative or through PEPFAR, the emergency relief plan for AIDS.

Children who are read to learn two things: First, that reading is worthwhile, and second, that they are worthwhile.

Libraries offer, for free, the wisdom of the ages
and sages
and, simply put, there's something for everyone inside.

Any criticism of someone you love is hard to take ...

Research shows us that children who are read to from a very early age are more likely to begin reading themselves at an early age. They're more likely to excell in school. They're more likely to graduate secondary school and go to college.

We see all around the world where women's rights are denied, where governments don't believe in educating their girls. There are 800 million people in the world who are illiterate and 75 percent of them are women and girls.

When you read with your child, you show them that reading is important, but you also show them they're important - that they are so important to you that you will spend 20 minutes a day with your arm around them.

A good book is like an unreachable itch. You just can't leave it alone.

Bluffton is growing. But we must hold on to that small-town character.

I also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane Corina to make sure their children are in school.

But we talk about issues, we talk about people, we talk about personalities. George is a very good reader of people, and he's very perceptive about people, and you know, that's fine.

We always get up about 5:30, and George gets up and goes in and gets the coffee and brings it to me, and that's been our ritual since we got married. And we read the newspapers in bed and drink coffee for about an hour probably, read our briefing papers.

The English language lacks the words to mourn an absence. For the loss of a parent, grandparent, spouse, child or friend, we have all manner of words and phrases, some helpful some not. Still we are conditioned to say something, even if it is only "I'm sorry for your loss." But for an absence, for someone who was never there at all, we are wordless to capture that particular emptiness. For those who deeply want children and are denied them, those missing babies hover like silent ephemeral shadows over their lives. Who can describe the feel of a tiny hand that is never held?

When you reach out to others in need, when you reach out to the world, you really do have a satisfying life by helping others.

Education is spreading hope. Millions are now learning to live with HIV/AIDS - instead of waiting to die from it.

I think doctors have really come up to speed and understand that more women than men die of heart disease. [But] all the research on heart disease has really been based on men, and needs to be updated with research on women - even very early-stage research is done using male rats!

You know, there are a lot of would-be governors of Texas sitting around today who never took the opportunity to get into a race when the time was right.

I like politics. I like traveling in the United States.

I have always admired organizations that help children grow and learn, and organizations that protect and shelter children when no one else does. And I wanted to draw attention to these organizations and recognize the contributions they were making to the country and to our children in particular.

Girls learn how to relate to men from the way their fathers love them. And if their fathers really love them and want the very best for them, then they've seen that kind of good behavior that they'd want in a husband.

No one likes to be criticized.

I also know that there are a lot of people around the United States who want my husband to win and who are for him and who support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I feel good about those people, too.

When I was in my 20s, I was a bookworm - spent 12 hours of the day in the library. How I met George, I'll never know.

For countries to succeed, for democracies to succeed, the women and men in those countries need to be free. Women and men need to know their rights.

It's not easy to have the job of president. It's not easy to run for it. And it's not a job for the feint of heart.

There are a lot of women that I think are very powerful and would be great presidents.

When I heard that heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined - when I heard that, I knew. The other thing that's very important is that heart disease ... is preventable. There are some specific lifestyle changes that women can make: losing weight, not smoking, exercising, eating healthy foods. Knowing the risk factors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, [being] overweight. And if you have heart disease in your family, you should see your doctor. Because this disease is preventable.

An educated child is better equipped to handle all the challenges of life, from finding work to avoiding diseases like HIV/AIDS.

As long as we have books, we are not alone.

I was so fortunate. My parents lived lives of service. They helped other people, that was their second nature; it came to them so naturally. It wasn't forced. This is their character, and it's a big advantage I have, being raised by people like this, having a secure and stable life, and a lot of love and encouragement.

Women have a better chance to secure freedom and protect themselves from violence, from abuse, from injustice, if they are well-educated and know their rights.

Books are important. They help you sleep at night.

It's a huge advantage to have parents who read to you. And it's an advantage that lasts a lifetime.

I have found the most valuable thing in my wallet is my library card.

We need to alert women everywhere about the seriousness of heart disease.

If you take the burden of health care, of diseases off the backs of some other countries, it gives them a chance to use their own very limited resources in ways that help their people. And also there's a hopelessness associated with deadly diseases, that if that can be alleviated, people can build their own economies in their own countries and they'll be less reliant on the developed world for help.

I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free, and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures, and where everything drew a free breath.
the Great Comanche war chief, Ten Bears

I said, 'George, if you really want to end tyranny in this world, you're going to have to stay up later.' Nine o'clock and Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep ...

I see that one part of the education of women is health education. We know that women who are educated have much healthier families ...

There is nothing political about American literature.

I think it's important that (Roe v. Wade) remain legal for medical reasons and other reasons.

I've always loved children. When I was working with children as a librarian, I loved being with them and working around them.

Educated people can make their own choices about their governments. And certainly for women, an education allows you to understand your rights.

Certainly the women's health part is something that I've become very interested in. It's not something I thought about when George [Bush] was elected ... what I'd always been interested in was education.

A love of books, of holding a book, turning its pages, looking at its pictures, and living its fascinating stories goes hand-in-hand with a love of learning.