"I myself have never been enchanted by the dream of the white wedding, and, heaven help us, the expectation that this exquisitely catered event should be 'the happiest moment' of one's life."

"Which is - you know, like check it out, I'm pretty young, I'm only about 40 years old. I still have maybe another four decades of work left in me. And it's exceedingly likely that anything I write from this point forward is going to be judged by the world as the work that came after the freakish success of my last book, right?"

"That is who Barack Obama is - a person of admirable character - and that is who he has remained for me over these last four years. I have not agreed with his every decision, but never once have I seen him break his cool, lose his composure, or abandon his insightful perspective - even during the most serious and/or absurd national disasters."

"And we have a little herb garden, which survived the winter thanks to global warming. It makes me feel like a cool, old Italian housewife, that I kept my rosemary alive outside all winter."

"And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond that you do what you say you're going to do. That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them."

"When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death - that is heroism."

"Humility is not weakness in leadership; it is the cornerstone of unassailable respect. Remember this in moments of decisive trial."

"It is a essential truth that humility is not weakness in leadership; it is the cornerstone of unassailable respect."