Asking the government to help you for short periods of time is different than asking the government to take care of you for the rest of your life.
Donna Shalala

But for me, it is when a student has died. I find the death of a young person the most difficult and painful of times. To explain it to other young people, to see a bright future snuffed out, is just awful. I am haunted by those deaths.
Donna Shalala

But I have a driver, so I can return calls while I'm in the car.
Donna Shalala

By putting people around me who will calm me down and slow me down and make sure I work through an issue.
Donna Shalala

Every year, I am reminded of the kids who aren't in the freshman class and aren't graduating. I remember every single one of them. That is the worst of times for me, to see the future snuffed out.
Donna Shalala

Higher education is one of few areas where this country competes with the rest of the world and wins. The best of American higher education outstrips any in the world. Look where the rest of the world goes for higher education, for graduate degrees. They come here.
Donna Shalala

I am interested in getting people to use the healthcare system at the right time, getting them to see the doctor early enough, before a small health problem turns serious.
Donna Shalala

I bring other constituencies - I also have ties to minority communities. And obviously, to the world of world-class research universities. So I can bring some constituencies that I'm used to working with.
Donna Shalala

I get to work at about 7:30 or 8 unless I have a breakfast meeting.
Donna Shalala

I have always hired people of different ages. Young people and older people. People in their 70s and in their 20s. People who are fully capable of talking back to me.
Donna Shalala


I have long ties to the women's community.
Donna Shalala

I have to admit, in January and February I was in an absolute fuzz. I had no one on board. It wasn't that I didn't know what I was doing, but we didn't have all the pieces put together.
Donna Shalala

I think anyone that thought that we were coming in as a bunch of liberal Democrats to deliver more large-scale social programs was nuts. I sure didn't expect it.
Donna Shalala

I think President Bush tried to step up on Social Security even though the polls showed that was unpopular. He has not been successful and backed off, but I admire people who take on big problems.
Donna Shalala

I try to deal with my serious reading before work.
Donna Shalala

I would argue that we have a generation of young people, particularly minorities, who are no longer putting up with the kinds of things their parents put up with. They're much more self-confident. It's no longer acceptable to make fun of people because of race or sex. But it has always been present in American society.
Donna Shalala

I'll be one of the spokespeople, one of the people who sells the Administration's plans.
Donna Shalala

I'm pretty disciplined and am almost always on schedule.
Donna Shalala

I've spent my whole life with people underestimating me.
Donna Shalala

In every community, whether large or small, there are people who lead in their community in easy and difficult times.
Donna Shalala