In the last analysis civilization itself is measured by the way in which children will live and what chance they will have in the world
We really need to put the best we have to offer within reach of our children. If we don't do that, we're going to get the generation we deserve.
Children are our most valuable natural resource.
The chances of a child coming through as I did... the world is too hard. On the other hand, I would always encourage children of mine if they wanted to be in school plays and dance and sing. But I wouldn't put them to work.
I grew up in a family that nearly lost everything, but I ended up in the United States Senate because I grew up in an America that invested in kids like me and built a real future for us.
Disabled children are equally entitled to an exciting and brilliant future.
As a mother, you have that impulse to wish that no child should ever be hurt, or abused, or go hungry, or not have opportunities in life.
My parents didn't get to have a dream. Their dream was to live in a country where their kids would have choice.
Our lifestyle was not in any way a negative. That was not the problem. That is and will remain one of the wonderful opportunities we are able to give our children.
As a mother, I want the very best for my children. As a politician, I want what is best for all children.
Children exist in the worlds that adults create for them, both locally and globally, and their options are, by virtue of age, often painfully limited.
I think my mother had a lot of opportunity when she was a kid. She was a model, and she did a lot of things in her life, but she had no real ambition. I think my mother really did want a home and kids and all of that.
I can't eradicate poverty, but at least for the people around me, I can help make sure no child is denied a dream.
A lot of people say I've missed out on a lot because I started acting at such a young age. What's so obvious to me is that I actually was really lucky. I gained a lot and I got a head start in what I wanted to do in life. A lot of people in their late 20s, early 30s are just beginning to figure out where they want to go.
I hope that more children have the same opportunities as me, with the same parents as me, that let me be an individual, who gave me freedom, and taught me to believe in myself before anyone else would believe in me.
My greatest hope is to be able to pass the same dreams and hopes and vision that I've been able to enjoy in my life, on to the next generation. Not just for my children - because with a mother like Michelle, my kids are going to be great - but for all children. There are too many children in this country for whom the American dream is so distant and the odds against them are so daunting.
We deal here with the right of all of our children, whatever their race, to an equal start in life and to an equal opportunity to reach their full potential as citizens. Those children who have been denied that right in the past deserve better than to see fences thrown up to deny them that right in the future.
