The 24 things Michelle Obama said that you'll be quoting all week

Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks to moderator Alecia DeCoudreaux on Feb. 13, 2018, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

As former first lady Michelle Obama spoke to a sold-out room of more than 13,000 people at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Tuesday, she dropped quotable line after quotable line.

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Here are the 24 quotable moments you'll be repeating for (at least) the rest of this week:

1. On growing up with extended family close by:

"The most important role models that you have are right in front of you."

2. On the one thing she wishes parents knew:

"Kids don't need a lot of stuff. I didn't have a lot of stuff. ... I just want parents to know it's the time in; it's not the stuff."

3. On younger generations facing different hurdles:

"I want them to know that anybody who has been successful, particularly if you're a woman, and especially if you're a woman of color, you grow up with a lot of doubts in your head."

4. On the fact that most minority children work hard, get good grades and aren't out doing bad things — but face judgment regardless:

"They're me. I am the kid you are afraid of."

5. On the advice she'd give children who doubt themselves: 

"What you have to do is just get up. And do it. There is no magic."

6. On what children of color deal with because of people's assumptions about race:

"You have to practice achieving through people's low expectations of you."

7. On what you can achieve if you work hard and believe you can:

"There are very mediocre people out there who run stuff, but nobody out there told them they can't. You're just as capable. But you can't be at the table if you're not prepared."

8. On being a fashion icon:

"I never sought to make a fashion statement. I approached clothes the way most women do: I wanted to look cute."

9. On the importance of comfort:

"You're only as comfortable with other people as you are with yourself. ... I'm wearing these heels right now because I don't have to walk past this rope line."

10. On why liking people is key to being first lady:

"For me, it was easy for me to be the first lady because every day I was with people. ...  And I didn't have to be anyone but me. I didn't have to be the first lady that I read about somewhere."

11. On being her authentic herself:

"I've just been able to be consistently me, and I'm OK with that. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes, but that makes being in the public eye a little bit easier."

12. On what people need to have if they plan on running for office:

"Please, have some knowledge about something."

13. On why female candidates are vital:

"Men aren't bad .... you just don't know everything."

14. On how she made sure her voice was heard: 

"I was loud and persistent. OK, maybe not always loud, but always persistent."

15. On speaking up, and not wasting your spot at the table once you get there:

"There are a lot of people who get to the table, and they're too nervous to add that value. Because a lot of times, they get to the table and they're so concerned with not losing the seat at the table."

16. On women needing to be pushy:

"Maybe you say something that gets you kicked out of the table. Well, maybe that's not a table you need to be at."

17. On how to help someone "go high" when their resources are low:

"There's only so much you can say to folks when you know their opportunities are at zero. ... The better use of my time is to try to fix the problems that they're facing."

18. On why we have a social safety net:

"You can't ask people to just live on platitudes and well-wishes. You can't pull yourselves up by the bootstraps if you don't have boots."

19. On women believing in themselves:

"There is internal work we have to do as women to get to the point where we feel like we deserve equal pay."

20. On not understanding why women would give their power away:

"So many women voted for a candidate who supported so many issues that weren't supportive of them."

21. On taking back the power:

"We're everywhere right now. But if we're everywhere being quiet, if we're everywhere being afraid, then we're not really using the leverage to our advantage."

22. On why the role of first lady matters:

"Shoot, I'm responsible for a few of those approval ratings."

23. On what you can do, right now, to make a difference: 

"First of all, vote. An active, engaged electorate helps us all. That's what you can do right now. Today. Don't just vote every four years. Vote for whatever you can vote for."

24. On being a good human:

"Assume the best in your neighbors, not the worst. ... Act with decency and with some compassion and with an open heart and nobody can take that away from you."

Call IndyStar reporter Amy Bartner at (317) 444-6752. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

A group of young women pose for photos before entering Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a Women's Fund of Central Indiana moderated conversation with former First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018.