Quotes from Valerie Jarrett

The whole issue of healthcare is very complicated. There have been seven Presidents who've tried to get healthcare reform passed.

Throughout the health-insurance reform process, we have had a frequent and consistent dialogue with the business community - small, medium, and large - to analyze and evaluate the impact that reform would have on them. It has been a very instructive and productive dialogue.

Financial regulatory reform is one of the top legislative priorities of the Obama Administration.

My theory is this: Rather than having commentaries from the cheap seats, get involved and see what you can do. What can you do around your own community, within your own family, to try to improve race relations in our country? I think this is a responsibility that we all have as citizens.

With a rich history, a world-class interdisciplinary program, and a vibrant student experience, I can't think of a better location to continue my own lifelong learning than the University of Chicago.

I just worry a lot. I'm a worrier. Michelle and Barack are really dear to me. I mean, I love them. And I don't want to see them get hurt. Just the nature of politics is hurtful. So every time they are hurt, I get hurt. It's a lot to ask of people, and it's a lot to see your friends go through. It's hard not to get emotional.

What keeps me up at night is worrying about the moms who depend on ACA for all of the preventive care and not to mention prenatal care, the wellness visits, and the cost of delivery.

I vividly remember early on in my career when I was eight months pregnant, working literally around the clock, and worrying that each trip to the restroom or my need to catch the occasional catnap was causing my colleagues to question whether I could keep up.

What makes a lot of sense is that, while people are incarcerated, give them the tools they need to be able to have a productive, lucrative living when they leave so they can provide for their families and break that cycle of recidivism.

I am hopeful about our future and sure that, despite our challenges, engaging our government remains essential in the journey toward perfecting our union.

One miscalculation I made is I did not fully appreciate that the Republicans in Congress were going to just say no to everything. Even when there are ideas that have traditionally been bipartisan.

We have to tell the stories of the everyday Americans who are adversely impacted by these policies. That's how we were able to keep the Affordable Care Act from being repealed. People told their stories; people showed up at Town Hall.

When you're a member of a team, when I was member of a team, whether I ultimately agreed or disagreed, once a president makes a decision, everybody, in my opinion, has to go with that decision, or you shouldn't be a member of the team. Your reputation rises and falls with the person who's the leader of the team.

In any given day, our administration has about 2 million employees, and things happen. We put in process procedures to make sure if there has been any wrongdoing, there will be appropriate consequences, and we will move on.

My daughter is, of course, perfect. Everyone's child is, but mine really is perfect. But I could not have raised her without my parents. From the time she was seven months until now, I have been a single parent.

Instead of sitting on the sidelines, President Obama has made it clear that the US is ready to lead a global effort to combat climate change.

What are we going to do to make sure people get the skills they need if they are incarcerated so that when they are released to hit the ground running? And what are we all going to do to give people who've earned a second chance, a second chance?

I finally said, 'I don't care if you're the first person in your family to be a lawyer.' Everybody thought what I was doing was really exciting, but it was not moving me one bit. And that's when I decided to join city government in Chicago, and that changed my life.

I care so passionately about improving the quality of life for women and girls, not just here in the United States, but internationally as well. I am a single mom and I raised a daughter who is now a young adult.

Each generation has an obligation to pick up the baton. We want young people to feel a sense of responsibility to take that baton and run with it.

The impact of solitary confinement can have a devastating consequence to the psychology of the people who are affected.

To know the first lady is to love Michelle.

When you break glass ceilings, you're going to get minor scrapes by a shard or two from the glass.

It's never too early to start thinking about tuition.