Michelle Obama Quotes

As an Elizabeth native, I believe it is my duty to give back to my community. Our youth is our future, and it truly takes a village to raise a child.

I think the main thing is to find something you care about. A cause. I think it starts with others. Who do you look up to? Who do you want to help? Start in your own community.

We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

Too often in our communities many families have not even been aware that certain charities exist; and at the same time, there are many who are willing to volunteer their energy and their resources to help these charities, yet they do not know these charities even exist.

There are so many local nonprofits making a positive impact every day, and yet, oftentimes we don't hear enough about them or their needs.

I want to contribute to sport and the community in a positive way.

It takes a village to raise a child.

We can't always wait on the government to sort out all issues. I think they set policies, they set the rules, but we all have a duty to help as much as we can.

If a country can't save itself through the volunteer service of its own free people, then I say : Let the damned thing go down the drain!

We're communal animals. If we're by ourselves, we can feel wrong and crazy and out of step with society. We really need those talking circles.

I want to make a difference with people who want to make a difference, doing something that makes a difference.

We need a new kind of citizenship, so that we can see citizens as themselves earning the rank of patriot because of their involvement in their community affairs....We as a society need to be encouraging people to focus not just on individual wants but on serving the larger community.

We have to know people who are outside of our own circle, we have to reach out to people we don't know, we have to protect people who are in tremendous danger. And we also have to not get burned out and let our fear and anxiety and depression sink us. So there's lots of things we have to do right now!

When you choose to give up your time and resources to participate in community work, that's what makes a leader.

I hope people become inspired to become active in their community. That's the important thing.

Busy people tend to forgo the one activity - TV watching _ that is most lethal to community involvement

We need people interested, otherwise literally the lights turn off.

If you young people who today belong to the first generation of the 21st century make an effort now, you may be able to create a happier, more peaceful world. But you can't take for granted that it will happen by itself, you'll need to take action.

Real assistance is to help people to help themselves. We can't do everything for everybody, but there is room for all who try to make it.

In the days ahead, I will propose more ways for more Americans to get involved in national service and give back to our communities, because every one of us has a role to play in building the future we want.

The [nonprofit] sector enhances our creativity, enlivens our communities, nurtures individual responsibility, stirs life at the grassroots, and reminds us that we were born free.

I want to serve. I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated.

The oil corporations spend a lot of money to get, say, the tar sands pipeline through, but nobody's - you know, there are definitely environmentalists being paid - but a lot of people are acting for something other than financial compensation. So if the tar sands pipeline doesn't get made, it's because a huge amount of people are doing something that doesn't involve remuneration, money, etc., because we're not actually the self-interested financial instruments that economists like to imagine we are.

When people wear our Bolivian knits and see who knitted them, they are excited because they know they are supporting this women's cause in Bolivia. And it shows you that we are all connected. It's not a machine making your clothes in a black hole somewhere. There is a human being behind it, and a community there.

Strong hearts and helpful hands are needed, and, fortunately, we have them in every part of our beloved country.