Betty Ford Quotes

That's what we're here on this Earth for, to help others.

You never know what you can do until you have to do it.

The search for human freedom can never be complete without freedom for women.

Being a lady does not require silence.

I don't look at what I've lost. I look instead at what I have left.

You can make it, but it's easier if you don't have to do it alone.

A liberated woman is one who feels confident in herself, and is happy in what she is doing. She is a person who has a sense of self-it all comes down to a freedom of choice.

I have an independent streak. You know, it's kind of hard to tell a independent woman what to do.

Any woman should have the right to a safe and legal abortion.

Alcohol may pick you up a little bit, but it lets you down in a hurry.

My makeup wasn't smeared, I wasn't disheveled, I behaved politely, and I never finished off a bottle, so how could I be alcoholic?

I feel it's important to be active. People who retire, sit by their swimming pool and golf course and plan to relax have a very empty life.

What man could afford to pay for all the things a wife does, when she's a cook, a mistress, a chauffeur, a nurse, a baby-sitter? But because of this, I feel women ought to have equal rights, equal Social Security, equal opportunities for education, an equal chance to establish credit.

I've learned a lot about myself. Most of it is all right. When I add up the pluses and subtract the minuses, I still come out pretty well.

I think once I made up my mind that I was allergic to alcohol, and that's what I learned, it made sense to me. And I think it was kind of pointed out that you know if you were allergic to strawberries, you wouldn't eat strawberries. And that made sense to me.

A housewife deserves to be honored as much as a woman who earns her living in the marketplace. I consider bringing up children a responsible job. In fact, being a good housewife seems to me a much tougher job than going to the office and getting paid for it.

I believe the equal rights amendment is a necessity of life for all citizens. The cabinet sometimes felt that I shouldn't be so outspoken.

I don't feel that because I'm First Lady, I'm very different from what I was before. It can happen to anyone. After all, it has happened to anyone.

Having babies is a blessing, not a duty.

I think it wasn't so much that the White House altered me in any essential way as that I found the resources with which to respond to a series of challenges. You never know what you can do until you have to do it. In the beginning, it was like going to a party you're terrified of, and finding out to your amazement that you're having a good time.

I know I was an alcoholic because I was preoccupied whether alcohol was going to be served or not.

It's always been my feeling that God lends you your children until they're about eighteen years old. If you haven't made your points with them by then, it's too late.

I'll never forget the day that I was told I would have to have a mastectomy. My reaction to the words was total denial.

We're full all the time. And people do have good success and I think one of the programs at the center, the Continuing Care, helps them with their success. Because it's difficult the first year.

I had thought I would hate being First Lady... I loved it.