Quotes from Rosalynn Carter

For Jimmy and me, Iowa holds a special place in our hearts. During his presidential campaign I spent over 100 days in Iowa. I visited 105 communities and knocked on more doors and met more Iowans than anyone thought possible.

My philosophy is that you do what you have to do.

I have learned that you can do anything you want to. They used to ask me if I thought the first lady ought to be paid. If you get paid, then I have to do what first lady is supposed to do. But you can do anything you want to, and it's such a great soap box.

I've always worked - I can't stay at home and do Cokes and teas, although I think that for those people who want to do that, then that's surely important to them.

First ladies throughout our history have been expected to be adoring wives and perfect mothers.

There is nothing more important than a good, safe, secure home.

It's been taboo for so long to admit you had a mental health problem.

I hope I've contributed something to the mental health field. But I hope people will think - I've had so many wonderful opportunities, I tried to take advantage of them.

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.

Times of upheaval require not just more leadership but more leaders. People at all organizational levels, whether anointed or self-appointed, must be empowered to share leadership responsibilities.

If you look at suicides, most of them are connected to depression. And the mental health system just fails them. It's so sad. We know what to do. We just don't do it.

I had already learned from more than a decade of political life that I was going to be criticized no matter what I did, so I might as well be criticized for something I wanted to do.

Early diagnosis is so important because the earlier a mental illness can be detected, diagnosed and treatment can begin, the better off that person can be for the rest of his or her life.

Aside from doing everything possible to provide programs for people who are seriously ill, I want to do everything humanly possible to help create a more caring society so that we can begin to counter the painful loneliness and sense of helplessness which has engulfed too many of our people.

One day, I made a remark that I might work with people with mental illness, and somebody in the press heard it, and it was in the paper. And the more I thought about it and found out about it, the more I thought it was just a terrible situation with no attention. And I've been working on it ever since.

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.

If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.

You must accept that you might fail; then, if you do your best and still don't win, at least you can be satisfied that you've tried.

If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.

San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world.

I love San Francisco. I have a lot of memories there.

There is nothing more important than a good, safe, secure home.

If you don't accept failure as a possibility, you don't set high goals, you don't branch out, you don't try - you don't take the risk.

Once you accept the fact that you're not perfect, then you develop some confidence.