59 Quotes by Betty Ford

For 14 years, I’d been on medication for the pinched nerve, the arthritis, the muscle spasms in my neck, and I’d lost my tolerance for pills. If I had a single drink, the alcohol, on top of the pills, would make me groggy.

I’ve learned a lot about myself. Most of it is all right. When I add up the pluses and subtract the minuses, I still come out pretty well.

I have an independent streak. You know, it’s kind of hard to tell a independent woman what to do.

I feel it’s important to be active. People who retire, sit by their swimming pool and golf course and plan to relax have a very empty life.

What man could afford to pay for all the things a wife does, when she’s a cook, a mistress, a chauffeur, a nurse, a baby-sitter? But because of this, I feel women ought to have equal rights, equal Social Security, equal opportunities for education, an equal chance to establish credit.

Friends aren’t any more important than breath or blood to a high school senior.

It’s always been my feeling that God lends you your children until they’re about eighteen years old. If you haven’t made your points with them by then, it’s too late.

I really didn’t want to have my name on the center, because it just seemed like it was too much of a personal thing.

I’ll never forget the day that I was told I would have to have a mastectomy. My reaction to the words was total denial.