More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“The future is won by those who build and not destroy,”
Cynicism is fashionable these days. But I got to tell you, cynicism didn’t put a man on the moon. Cynicism did not create the opportunity for all our citizens to vote. Cynicism has never won a war, or cured a disease, or started a business, or fed young minds. I believe in optimism. I believe in hope…Don’t let the cynics get you down. Cynicism is a choice—and hope is a better choice.
I’m so proud that President Obama is our ambassador, that he wants to go to these places where we have complicated histories and address it all head-on, openly and honestly, like a good professor.
I think back on the last five years, on what I’ve ever really, truly needed. A sick playlist. A good book. A pumped-up basketball and half-decent vodka. Friends who want only friendship in return. Running shoes. I think of all the rules I’ve needed to live by, and all the rules I’ve needed to break. I’m done with tiptoeing; I’d rather dance around in my pink shoes. I don’t need to breathe quietly; I’d rather shout for an encore. I don’t need the Vagiants to approve of me when, frankly, I don’t approve of them. I’d rather set a new standard for all the Jessies who come after me; I’d rather help
...more
And I run. The morning sun is my church. I lace up my sneakers, inflated with excitement for whatever comes next.
“It’s just a job,” Von the butler had told me when we first met. Now, in the Oval, I get it. This is just a room. The White House is just a building. The Constitution is just a piece of parchment. It’s what we invest in it that matters. It’s the humanity behind it. The magic we breathe into it.
We are made of guts and heart and stories, not titles and W-2s. We are lucky but we are nothing special. It’s a privilege and an honor and a job.
