Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.
Magic lies in challenging what seems impossible.
It's time to take the 'Men Only' sign off the White House door.
There are those who would keep us slipping back into the darkness of division, into the snake pit of racial hatred, of racial antagonism and of support for symbols of the struggle to keep African-Americans in bondage.
I am determined to try to rebuild and renew this country in ways that will build community and level the playing field. To me, that means making certain that the fight to preserve our civil liberties is waged, making certain the fight against discrimination is waged, making certain that women have opportunity in this country.
There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, just permanent interests.
The really important victory of the civil rights movement was that it made racism unpopular, whereas a generation ago at the turn of the last century, you had to embrace racism to get elected to anything.
It's not impossible for a woman - a Black woman - to become President.
I've always maintained that black people and women suffer from a presumption of incompetence. The burdens of proof are different. It just gets so tiresome.
My parents were always philosophizing about how to bring about change. To me, people who didn't try to make the world a better place were strange.
Well, if you pick a fight with somebody that's smaller than you and you beat them, where's the honor in that?
If I lose, I'm going to retire from politics, practice law, and wear bright leather pants.
It's hard to be the first. It's almost as if I'm subject to a different level of inspection.
The Islamic community today is faced with a new version of an old struggle. My late mother used to say it doesn't matter whether you came to this country on the Mayflower or on a slave ship, through Ellis Island or the Rio Grande. We're all in the same boat now.
And frankly, being a woman I think gives me a slightly different take on a lot of the issues and on a lot of the solutions to the problems we face.
I really think that's the key, part of the spiritual renewal that America needs to have, the notion that we really can have confidence in a better tomorrow.
I think Americans want to believe in this country again.
I'm used to people not paying me a whole lot of attention and underestimating me and, frankly, for me a big challenge is to have people believe that I can be the president of the United States.
I think the legacy of the civil rights movement is that now whites are more open to being represented by people of color or people who are women or, again, non-traditional candidates.
New Zealand, by the way, where I was ambassador, has had two women prime ministers - one from either party.
We're failing our children with education, we're failing our environment.
I think that we have a responsibility to make certain that we are fiscally responsible in order to assure, frankly, future generations don't have to pay our bills.
I believe that our message of rebuilding America is one that will resonate with the American people.
If we can rebuild Iraq, we can rebuild Illinois and Indiana and if we can do Baghdad, we can do Baltimore.
Im committed to universal health coverage and education.
