Maria Shriver Quotes

I stressed out trying to figure out what I could say. I ate licorice. I stressed some more. I ate Dots. I stressed out even more-and wiped out a bag of Swedish Fish. And then I wrote.

Someone once told me not to be afraid of being afraid, because, as she said, 'Anxiety is a glimpse of your own daring.' Isn't that great? It means that part of your agitation is just excitement about what you're getting ready to accomplish. Don't sell yourself short by being so afraid of failure that you don't dare to make any mistakes. Make your mistakes and learn from them. And remember: No matter how many mistakes you make, your mother always loves you!

We all obsess about what we are doing and accomplishing. What if we let it go and simply made the way we live our lives our accomplishment?

I like to make jokes; I consider myself a funny person. I just think making jokes about people who are in a situation beyond their control is not funny to them or their families.

I like cookies, any cookie you put in front of me - animal cookies, sugar cookies, anything crunchy.

FAILING IS A PART OF LEARNING.

One of my greatest joys is poetry. I read it almost every day, and I've even taken a stab at writing some of my own. A poem I wrote for my mother when she was dying really helped me get through that hard time.

I'm only asking you to stop every so often and turn off your mobile device, put down the Angry Birds and the Words with Friends and take a moment. Stop to look up and look around. Pause and check in with yourself - and spend a moment there.

You don't wanna walk around and say, 'I'm somebody's niece, I'm somebody's cousin, I'm somebody's daughter. Who are you?' And I think that's always the challenge when you grow up in a well-known family, is ultimately, you have to face yourself in the mirror and say, 'Who are you? What have you done?'

Having kids - the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings - is the biggest job anyone can embark on. As with any risk, you have to take a leap of faith and ask lots of wonderful people for their help and guidance. I thank God every day for giving me the opportunity to parent.

In this day and age it's really stupid to be stupid about financial matters. It doesn't do you any good to make money if you don't know what to do with it other than spend it.

I appreciate your support, particularly this year, for sticking with me.

I decided that I was going to be the Kennedy who makes her own name and finds her own job and works like a dog. My comeuppance was when Arnold got elected - I became the Kennedy who was married to the governor.

Your life is like a mosaic, a puzzle. You have to figure out where the pieces go and put them together for yourself.

I was raised by a formidable woman. She always pushed me to be competitive in a man's world. That's maybe one of the attractions to journalism in the beginning. It was a male profession, and I was comfortable in that.

My mother's death brought me to my knees. She was my hero, my role model, my very best friend. I spoke to her every single day of my life. I really tried hard when I grew up to make her proud of me.

I stand on the shoulders of women who marched before me.

Art is fundamental, unique to each of us ... Even in difficult economic times - especially in difficult economic times, the arts are essential.

Poetry has always been made to seem kind of cultish. But the truth is, everybody really loves it! It's much more mainstream than anyone thought.

You can spend the rest of your life trying to figure out what other people expect from you, or you can make a decision to let that all go.

Investing in women, helping women to achieve their dreams, sending young girls to college. Trying to train young girls to be leaders. Sponsoring the Minerva Awards. All of these programs didn't exist before that help women day in and day out.

Starting at the bottom is not about humiliation. It's about humility - a realistic assessment of where you are in the learning curve.

When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands.

If you want to be an architect of change by raising great kids, God bless. If you want to do it by raising money for your kid's school, great. If you want to build a garden - whatever it is. Women like myself - they're complicated, and they have a lot of different interests and qualities within them.

The big thing is that if you don't try something, you'll always wonder. What could that have been like? What if ... ?

I'm trying to get away from roles. I used to identify myself strictly in terms of my role, but when your roles fall away, part of you falls with them.

Having children-the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings-is the biggest job anyone can embark on. You have to take a leap of faith and ask lots of people for their help and guidance.

My father never was and isn't a mean man. You know, he never was ruthless. And he succeeded in life without sticking it to anybody. And that's a great example for a man, a strong man, a man's man, to give to his children. You can succeed, you can be successful, without walking over somebody.

I like meeting people and I like being able to help.

Motherhood: 24/7 on the frontlines of humanity. Are you man enough to try it?

I, I am my own woman. I have not been, quote, 'bred' to look the other way. I look at that man back there in the green room straight on, eyes wide open, and I look at him with an open heart.

Poetry can startle you, awaken you, make you fall in love, take your breath away. When those words sink in, you'll never look at your life or your journey the same way again.

The gift my mother gave me was the gift of possibility. From an early age, she instilled in me a belief that I could do anything I wanted to do. It wasn't a matter of, 'Can I?' or 'Should I?' It was just, 'You can, you must, you will!' She wanted me to believe that anything was possible.

Creating the Minerva Awards. I really have enjoyed that. I have to say that I moaned and groaned about this job but the way I have it now, I enjoy everything about it. I enjoy giving people service opportunities.

No matter who you are, what you've accomplished, what your financial situation is - when you're dealing with a parent with Alzheimer's, you yourself feel helpless. The parent can't work, can't live alone, and is totally dependent, like a toddler. As the disease unfolds, you don't know what to expect.

We need this city to actually live up to its name-The City of Angels. We need to spread our wings. We need to show that we are more than red carpets, we are more than Hollywood, that we are a city ourselves of open arms. We are a city of generosity and compassion.

I thought I had to show people that I would get in early, stay late or even all night, work on holidays. I didn't want to be the rich kid who was along for a free ride.

I don't believe in gutter politics. I don't believe in gutter journalism.

I've learned that asking ourselves not just what we want to be, but who we want to be is important at every stage of our lives, not just when we're starting out in the world. That's because in a way, we're starting out fresh in the world every single day.

Pausing allows you to take a beat to take a breath in your life. As everybody else is rushing around like a lunatic out there, I dare you to do the opposite.

There are so many places, particularly right now. Go and volunteer at a food bank. If you play the piano, go play the piano in an Alzheimer's home. Or read in an Alzheimer's home. Help a military family with babysitting. The opportunities are endless. People often think 'They want me?' or 'I can be of help?' What we try to say here is 'Be who you are.'Feel that, live it and pass it on.

Take off your armor; dare to be vulnerable, dare to unwrap yourself, and dare yourself to be yourself.

You know those goals you've set for yourself, those dreams you've been waiting for the perfect time to live out? It's time!

Women somehow get portrayed as one type. You're either a feminist or you're not. You're a working woman or you're not. I'm raising two girls, and I say to them, 'I need you to be strong and soft. You can be smart and beautiful ... You can be all of these things.'

The love and laughter are what you need most in your life. They'll fill out all the potholes in the road.

Comparing how you feel on the inside (bad) to the way someone else looks on the outside (great) is a losing proposition. It's an impossible standard.

God puts mentors in your path. They may not look like you, sound like you, or be what you expect. But they always know more that you.

So many people don't know who's on the State Seal and they don't know, not just in California but the United States of America, things they look at every day and they say, 'Wow! I didn't know that.'

Never think that someone else knows what's best for you. Trust your way and don't ask for so much advice. Learn how to be quiet and still enough to hear your own voice. It's up to you: Your voice will either be silenced or will get to roar.

At work, you're replaceable ... but as a parent, you're irreplaceable.

Listen: You can't short-circuit the learning process. It takes time to get to the top, and that's good-because by the time you get there, you'll have learned what you need to know in order to stay there.

We've witnessed history in the making.

People think, 'Oh my goodness! I have to do something really big.' You don't. Do what you love. There's a great quote from a poet I use all the time: 'Instead of asking what the world needs, ask yourself what you love,' because what the world needs is more people doing what they love.

I feel very blessed to have four brothers. My brothers always say, 'Oh, you know, we prepared you for the world of journalism. We prepared you for Arnold. We prepared you for everything.' And in a way they're right. Because you know, they take no prisoners. They were very tough.

you are the leader you've been looking for

I think that public service is tough on a family - no ifs, ands, buts about it. I have my own personal wishes, but they're not always front and center.

What we heard loud and clear is that the Battle Between the Sexes is over. It was a draw. Now we're engaged in Negotiation Between the Sexes.