THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE SEE MY DISCLOSURES FOR MORE INFORMATION
Barbara Bush was a former First Lady of the United States and founded the Barbara Bush Foundation For Family Literacy.
While many people remember her as the First Lady under the Presidency of George H.W. Bush, not as many know of her devotion to family and the lives of children.
If you ever had the opportunity to hear her speak about these passions, you found out very quickly how important both were to her.
Through her many interviews, she delighted us with amazing quotes.
In this post, I share with you 51 Barbara Bush quotes that will make you feel better about life and hope for good things in the future.
51 Inspiring Barbara Bush Quotes
Quotes On Family
#1. “Bias has to be taught. If you hear your parents downgrading women or people of different backgrounds, why, you are going to do that.” – Barbara Bush
#2. “Family and friends and faith are the most important things in your life and you should be building friendships.” – Barbara Bush
#3. “You have to love your children unselfishly. That’s hard. But it’s the only way.” – Barbara Bush
#4. “To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” – Barbara Bush
#5. “Did you know that if a child never misses a day of school from first grade to twelfth grade, he or she would have spent only 9 percent of his or her life in the classroom? The other 91 percent is spent in the home or out in the community. We cannot expect teachers and the schools to solve all our children’s problems.” – Barbara Bush
#6. “Cherish your human connections. Your relationships with friends and family.” – Barbara Bush
#7. “I’m worried about parents who aren’t parenting.” – Barbara Bush
#8. “Your success as a family, our success as a nation, depends not on what happens inside the White House, but on what happens inside your house.” – Barbara Bush
#9. “I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life.” – Barbara Bush
#10. “As important as your obligations as a doctor, lawyer or business leader will be, you are a human being first.” – Barbara Bush
#11. “Fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. You must read to your children, you must hug your children and you must love your children.” – Barbara Bush
#12. “Live your life with love as your guiding principle. Keep your family and close friends close.” – Barbara Bush
#13. “Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people. Your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way.” – Barbara Bush
#14. “It was the dumbest thing I had ever seen, but it’s a family thing, and I guess it’s clean.” – Barbara Bush
#15. “You know sit with your arm around a little kid and read. It not only teaches them to read but it keeps the family strong.” – Barbara Bush
#16. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.” – Barbara Bush
Words Of Wisdom
#17. “Everything I worry about would be better if more people could read, write, and comprehend.” – Barbara Bush
#18. “My worst expectations never happened.” – Barbara Bush
#19. “I’m not a competitive person, and I think women like me because they don’t think I’m competitive, just nice.” – Barbara Bush
- Read now: Learn 50 great Oprah Winfrey quotes
#20. “One of the reasons I made the most important decision of my life, to marry George Bush, is because he made me laugh. It’s true, sometimes we’ve laughed through our tears, but that shared laughter has been one of our strongest bonds.” – Barbara Bush
#21. “I hate abortions, but just could not make that choice for someone else.” – Barbara Bush
#22. “I don’t think that’s healthy for the country when anyone thinks their morals are better than anyone else’s.” – Barbara Bush
#23. “War is not nice.” – Barbara Bush
#24. “If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle. ‘Take two aspirin’ and ‘Keep away from children.'” – Barbara Bush
#25. “Don’t complain and don’t explain.” – Barbara Bush
#26. “People who worry about their hair all the time, frankly, are boring.” – Barbara Bush
#27. “The pearls are to cover the wrinkles, which they no longer do. You can’t wear pearls all over your face.” – Barbara Bush
#28. “Suddenly women’s lib had made me feel my life had been wasted.” – Barbara Bush
#29. “You try to do something every single day that will help an American or maybe someone overseas.” – Barbara Bush
#30. “Believe in something larger than yourself. Get involved in the big ideas of your time.” – Barbara Bush
#31. “I hate the fact that people think ‘compromise’ is a dirty word.” – Barbara Bush
#32. “Never ask anyone over 70 how they feel. They’ll tell you.” – Barbara Bush
#33. “Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.” – Barbara Bush
#34. “Why be afraid of what people will say? Those who care about you will say ‘Good luck!’ and those who care only about themselves will never say anything worth listening to anyway.” – Barbara Bush
#35. “Well, look at what people are doing for returned veterans now. The wounded warriors. They’re working hard to make the wounded veterans feel that they are loved and welcomed home, unlike Vietnam. It was not a very kind, gentle world then. I think we are kinder and gentler.” – Barbara Bush
Inspirational Quotes
#36. “You don’t just luck into things as much as you’d like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it’s friendships or opportunities.” – Barbara Bush
#37. “Treat everyone equally, don’t look down on anyone, use your voices for good, read all the great books.” – Barbara Bush
#38. “Life has changed enormously, and I hope, I hope more people read good things.” – Barbara Bush
#39. “One of the many things we have learned in all our travels is that it’s the people who count. Most people everywhere are interesting, and if you can’t find a friend, then maybe there is something wrong with you.” – Barbara Bush
#40. “The goal is to find the balance between going after your dreams and finding happiness in what you have.” – Barbara Bush
#41. “Get involved in the big ideas of your time.” – Barbara Bush
#42. “You have two choices in life: you can like what you do, or you can dislike it. I have chosen to like it.” – Barbara Bush
#43. “The winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream, not society’s dream, her own personal dream.” – Barbara Bush
#44. “When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.” – Barbara Bush
#45. “Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life’s blood. But everyone has something to give.” – Barbara Bush
#46. “You get nothing done if you don’t listen to each other.” – Barbara Bush
#47. “Let’s judge a man on what he’s done.” – Barbara Bush
#48. “For heaven’s sake, enjoy life. Don’t cry over things that were or things that aren’t.” – Barbara Bush
#49 “Value your friendship. Value your relationships.” – Barbara Bush
#50. “You may think the president is all-powerful, but he is not. He needs a lot of guidance from the Lord.” – Barbara Bush
#51. “If human beings are perceived as potentials rather than problems, as possessing strengths instead of weaknesses, as unlimited rather that dull and unresponsive, then they thrive and grow to their capabilities.” – Barbara Bush
Final Thoughts
There are 51 heartwarming Barbara Bush quotes.
I encourage you to learn more about her passion around family and literacy as these are keys to solving many of the problems we face today.
They might not fix everything, but they will push us in the direction of a happier, joyous, and more peaceful world.
- Read now: Learn 50 inspiring Tiger Woods quotes
- Read now: Discover the best 50 T.D. Jakes quotes
- Read now: Click here for 100 positive thinking quotes
Jon Dulin is the passionate leader of Unfinished Success, a personal development website that inspires people to take control of their own lives and reach their full potential. His commitment to helping others achieve greatness shines through in everything he does. He’s an unstoppable force with lots of wisdom, creativity, and enthusiasm – all focused on helping others build a better future. Jon enjoys writing articles about productivity, goal setting, self-development, and mindset. He also uses quotes and affirmations to help motivate and inspire himself. You can learn more about him on his About page.