Not My First Rodeo Quotes

“Growing up, I figured God must really love farmers. Just look at how often sowing and reaping are mentioned in the Bible! Over and over again the Good Book references barns overflowing, bringing in the harvest, and casting seed on fertile ground. It does take incredible faith to be in a profession where so much is out of your control.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“Let us all, like our founding fathers, pledge our own lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor, to the cause of liberty and self-government. So that we may continue to have the freedom to follow our conscience, to build our lives, and to live in peace.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“Respecting animals means making the effort to understand them---their habits, needs, and even their fears. Respecting people often means taking those things into account too. None of us are perfect, but all of us deserve respect.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“Politics is a lot like walking through a feedlot in springtime: it's slow going and you're constantly surrounded by crap.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion” (ESV).”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“listening, the more confident my staff became. They began to share more details and air differing views. I got more information that morning than I’d gotten in three weeks.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“On this Independence Day, let us be grateful that we have such words and such examples to follow... that others were willing to sacrifice so much to create a land in which liberty and law can be protected. Let us not destroy our history. Let us learn from it by preserving and celebrating what was great and fixing what was not.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“Yes, American history is complicated and hard. All history is complicated and hard. Human life, past and present, is never simple. Every family history is checkered, to some extent, and with great inheritances come humbling challenges. But I believe Americans are brave enough to face those challenges, to overcome adversity, celebrate our triumphs---to be a teachable people who learns from our history and goes confidently into the future with, as Lincoln said, "malice toward none and charity for all.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“To my way of thinking, any American who gets up and goes to work every day is essential, whether your job is caring for the sick, driving a delivery truck, stocking a shelf, or milking a herd of cows. You matter. And your job matters because it matters to you.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“So please... put down your smartphones, turn off your TVs... Spend time with your family. Call a loved one. Just take a break. Focus on the good things that you have in your life---the blessings...A threat like this can break us down, or it can make us truly appreciate the many blessings that we do have... It's okay to be uncertain, but at the same time, we can also pour ourselves into our families, into our neighbors, and into our communities. People are afraid, and they're worried. And some may be losing hope. But my message to you is hang in there. We will get through this, and we will persevere...If there's anything that we all can rally around today, it's that we all have a common enemy---and that's this virus.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“What we needed was for people to remember our history and our Constitution. We needed to recognize that it's every American's responsibility to safeguard our freedom, and not just for ourselves, but for future generations. Because freedom is incredibly fragile. Once gone, it is very hard to get it back.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“When leaders overstep their authority, that is how we lose a country.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“One of Washington's worst assumptions is this belief that bureaucrats in a handful of federal agencies in DC know more and care more about the natural environment than the people who own, cultivate, and depend on that land for their very survival. In reality, there are no greater environmentalists than farmers. They love their land. For so many of them, it's their legacy---what they hope to leave to their children someday.
People tend to take pretty good care of their legacies.
Farmers do so because we literally live the lessons of the land in our daily work. We teach our kids how to protect it, because we'll go broke and starve if we don't.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“If you want to change people's lives, you first have to care about people's lives.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“First Corinthians 13:4-8 is a well-known passage, often used at weddings, and there's a saying that if you can substitute the name of your potential spouse for the word "love," you know you have someone worth holding on to forever. The passage goes like this:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (NIV)”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“America is great because the people who came before us and built this country were imperfect. And they knew it. Their obvious imperfections gave them humility. That is why they envisioned a country where no single imperfect person---or small group of imperfect people---would have all the power. Instead, all of us---imperfect as we all are---would come together and work on problems together and figure things out together. While each and every one of us is imperfect, the final result of that democratic, constitutional process would achieve the most perfect solutions possible.
America did not just happen. It wasn't an accident. We are here not because of one king, one group of powerful oligarchs, one race, or one set of ancestral boundaries. America is the most powerful, prosperous country in the world because we, the people, have worked together through a democratic, constitutional process.
These gifts of freedom, self-determination, and individual liberty were not easily won. That took guts, blood, and vision. Brave people, guided by great purpose, fought for these gifts. For them, the future was never certain. Nothing was guaranteed. Yet they gambled everything, risked their lives, and put their fortunes on the line for the principles they believed in. The result of their daring efforts was the single greatest experiment in freedom and self-governance in human history.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“Don't ever sell land, Kristi. God isn't making any more land.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“Everyone who has a farmer or a rancher in their family knows they live out of their pickups. Everything important can be found in the cab, including wallets, bills to pay, cattle and seed records. The console is littered with dusty little notes about things that need to be done, jotted down on whatever may be handy---food wrappers, scrap paper, or cardboard from a tool package.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“Life is a rodeo. Hang on.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“After a global pandemic and the crisis in American cities, more and more people are discovering the gift of rural life, learning that it's better for their families---and for their souls. Rural communities are at the heart of our American story: they are people taking risks to earn a living off the land.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“I often tell young people one of the best things they can do is decide to be a teachable person. You can learn something from everyone, even your worst critic.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“I do not believe there are "women's issues" any more than there are "men's issues." There is, however, a woman's perspective on every single issue. That perspective is essential when we as a country make decisions about our freedom, defense, prosperity, health, and the well-being and happiness of our kids.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland