J. J. Abrams Quotes

I'm nearly always at home at the weekends; that's important for every working woman today, not just me. I don't encourage people to come in at the weekend and work; I encourage people to go home and create great families.

I'm proud to be Secretary of Labor. But I'm even prouder of two more important titles: dad and husband. I've been able to be all three. I want all working people, no matter what their jobs are, to be able to meet their obligations both at work and at home.

You can have more than one career, but you only have one family.

For Mum and Dad... work and home is family, so work is family and home is family. We grew up with that.

Luckily because I had a family and children, my priorities changed. I mean, I'm very passionate about my work but I have other interests and other things that balance my life.

I have a child and I don't want to be at work all the time when he's small. I want to spend time with him.

People who work for me know that family comes first. And I'm fortunate to have a family that is very supportive of the work I do, so I don't have to live two separate lives.

I don't think children have competed with my career, they have clarified it. My children ground me. They make me honest.

I had my daughter, and with that came a deep sense of responsibility; my time for work had become precious, and it had to have more meaning.

I have always been clear that cinema is not my priority and that my family is.

I walked out of the show business in 1968 because I thought that would be good for the family. It took me some time to decide but I wanted to spend more time with my wife and two daughters who were always beside me. I wanted to do everything I could for them.

I was fortunate enough to have my kids early, so being a mom always ended up being a better gig than these other parts that came along. So I always justified not really working a lot because I had a family.

There have definitely been ebbs and flows in my career, but, you know, part of the reason is that I'm a mom. I have a five-year-old daughter. She really factors into my choices, and I never want to go too long without seeing her.

The secret is to make sure your family comes before anything else, because no matter what you do you've got to come home.

Work is work, but family is for life. That's what really matters to me.

One thing I've learned in politics—you have to make time for your family, no matter how busy you are.

I had the luxury of skipping the cabinet meeting to attend my daughter's graduation. So many people don't have the luxury of taking an hour away from the workplace to attend indispensable family commitments. We have to change that dynamic.

From a very young age, I had this idea that if you are very successful in your career, and you're giving all of your attention to that, then your family life... possibly will not flourish as it might.

I've never gone to the Oscars because I can't afford another week away. It is not more important than my husband. It is not more important than my kids.

I learned very early that you don't get time back. I'd miss my children growing up, so that's the reason I retired.

I wish, mainly, that I could have a job and work all the time and also not have to leave my kids. If there was a way to clone myself and be at every parent-teacher meeting and be there to put my kids to bed every single night and also star on Broadway, that's what I would do.

People have told me, 'You shouldn't bring your daughter onto the podium, 'cause it's the workplace,' and things like that. But I'm not gonna really listen to that. I'm gonna do what I think is fun for me and my family, and everything'll be all right.

Men should know that no job is more important than their family. I had that all screwed up for a long time. I regret it.

The family is the foundation of everything.

When I am not working, my family are the most important.