One proving ground only opened onto the next. Such is the life of a girl who can’t stop wondering, 'Am I good enough?' and is still trying to show herself the answer."
-- Michelle Obama (chapter 7)

Importance: Obama repeats the question "Am I good enough?" throughout her autobiography. Even as she accomplished one achievement after another – like two Ivy League degrees, interesting jobs in leadership positions, and successful national health campaigns as First Lady - Obama continued to question her self worth. As this quote illustrates, no accomplishment was ever sufficient to allow Obama to definitively prove to herself that she was enough. This self-doubt arose from her desire to receive the approval of others.

Failure is a feeling long before it's an actual result.
-- Michelle Obama (chapter 4)

Importance: When Obama was a child, the demographics of her neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago began to shift – the area became poorer and blacker as families left...